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Annual Reports 2015/2016

Biennial National Delegate ConferenceCity Hall, Cork

2nd - 5th October, 2017

3SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016

Contents

Foreword by Jack O'Connor 5

Progress on BDC 2015 Resolutions 7

Membership & Organisation 27

Workers Rights Centre 29

SIPTU College 33

IDEAS Institute 37

Information Technology 39

Premises 40

Northern Ireland 41

Economic Developments 43

Wage Developments 47

Social Developments 51

Disputes Sanctioned 2015-2016 54

Changes in Sick Pay Schemes and other Working Conditions 2015-2016 58

Divisional Reports:Health 63Manufacturing 84Public Administration and Community 100Services 119Transport, Energy, Aviation and Construction 138

Strategic Organising Campaigns 155

Campaigns and Equality 2015-2016 161

Communications Department 169

Retired Members 176

SIPTU Membership Services 178

Appendix 1: Financial Statements 179

Appendix 2: Staff Salaries 202

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SIPTU General President, Jack O’Connor unveils a plaque

honouring the ICA at the Dan ShawCentre, Navan, Co Meath, May 2016.

SIPTU General Secretary, Joe O’Flynn (left)with President Michael D Higgins at the

1916 Tapestry launch in Liberty Hall, May 2016. Photo: Derek Speirs

SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 5

This report summarises theongoing struggle for fair-ness at work and justice insociety as conducted bythe members, activists andstaff of our trade union,working with others in thewider movement in Ireland,throughout 2015 and 2016.

Our work has been under-taken against the back-ground of prolonged,austerity driven, economic

stagnation and mass unemployment in a numberof Eurozone countries. This has served to fuelgrowing alienation among working people andparticularly the young. Unfortunately, it has man-ifested itself in increased support for the radicalRight in countries such as France, the Nether-lands and in Northern and Eastern Europe. On theother hand, we have also witnessed the emer-gence of significant left-wing parties and social-movements in some stressed areas, along theMediterranean in particular. However, their lead-ers seem more preoccupied with destroying thetraditional Social Democratic parties than forgingthe kind of Left unity that would be essential towin power and pursue a sustainable social andeconomic agenda. Excitingly, the UK LabourParty appears to have bucked this trend underthe leadership of the veteran socialist, Jeremy Corbyn.

In statistical terms at least, the Republic of Irelandcontinued to experience a degree of ongoing ‘re-covery’. GDP grew by an extraordinary 26.3% in2015, driven mainly by massive balance sheetshifting activity by multinational companies. Itgrew by 5.2% in 2016. Employment grew by 2.6%in 2015 and by 2.9% in 2016, with the numbers atwork surpassing 2 million. However, there is in-creasing anecdotal evidence of growing ex-ploitation and the proliferation of precariousness.This, coupled with a housing crisis and the ab-sence of any discernible improvement in thequality of public services due to the ongoing re-strictions on state investment, has rendered ‘therecovery’ very remote from the daily experienceof the great majority of people.

In 2014, the Northern Ireland economy began toexperience recovery and 2015 provided the firstyear of consistent growth since the financial and

property crash of 2008. Much of this recentgrowth is attributable to a strong performance inthe services sector and a necessary turnaroundin the construction industry. However, publicsector output recorded a decrease in all but oneof the eight quarters of 2015 and 2016, reflectingthe significant impact of cuts in public expendi-ture. The number of jobs in Northern Ireland in-creased by just over 20,000, but there was a fallof 3% in the number of public sector jobs. Overall,there was a reduction of almost 1% in the unem-ployment rate for Northern Ireland over the sameperiod, and average wages recorded significantgrowth. However, in real terms, wages in North-ern Ireland in 2016 were still 1% below wherethey were 10 years previously.

The 2016 General Election in the Republic re-sulted in the decimation of the Labour Party,which was blamed for the austerity agenda,which had actually been drawn up by the previ-ous Government and insisted on by theIMF/ECB/EU troika as a condition of funding thecountry. Whereas some parties and individualson the Left won increased electoral support, theoutcome did nothing to improve the balance infavour of working people. The two great CentreRight parties which have dominated our politicssince the civil war, continue to do so in an unspo-ken coalition.

Regrettably, the outcome has also meant thatthe ambitious expansion of employment rights,envisaged in Labour’s Charter for Workers, whichwas to build on the gains in terms of strength-ened Collective Bargaining rights achieved in theIndustrial Relations (Amendment) Act 2015, willnot now be realised. In Northern Ireland, assem-bly elections took place in May 2016. The 55%turnout resulted in strong showings for the DUPand Sinn Féin. The region continued to suffer theeffects of Tory Government austerity, but the ex-istence of the devolved administration protectedworkers from the savage anti-union legislation introduced in Britain.

As the year wore on the power sharing adminis-tration was increasingly threatened by a contro-versy concerning a bungled green energyscheme. This resulted in its collapse earlier thisyear. Another election followed in March, butthus far there has been no restoration of powersharing.

SIPTU General President Jack O’Connor

6

However, the seminal political (and ultimately eco-nomic and social) event in Ireland and in Europewas the tragic outcome of the Brexit referendumin the U.K. Millions of mostly older workers wereseduced into embracing the race laden agenda oftheir deadliest enemies – the eurosceptic Right.This was followed by the election of Donald Trumpas President of the US, again with the misguidedsupport of millions of workers. The Left, riven bydivision and ego politics, failed to offer a vision ofa socially sustainable future that works. Admit-tedly, this is a much more difficult task than tellingpeople what they want to hear and scapegoatingminorities, but the end result is that the reac-tionary Right has been allowed to grab the fran-chise on hope.

As 2016 drew to a close, the spectre of a rampag-ing right wing Tory government in the UK, com-plemented by increasingly influential parallels inthe Netherlands and France, threatened the futureof democracy in Europe. Thankfully, they have suf-fered significant electoral setbacks in all threecountries this year, most spectacularly in the UKat the hands of, a for once united Left, under theleadership of Jeremy Corbyn, fighting on an un-compromisingly traditional social democratic pro-gramme. However, the ogres of the hard Righthaven’t gone away. Unless those in power in thekey countries of Europe abandon the current par-simonious fiscal strategy in favour of investmentfor jobs and growth, they will be back with avengeance and very soon. Meanwhile, the reper-cussions of the Brexit referendum and the electionof Trump will continue to play out to the detrimentof working people, civil society, democracy andeven the future of the ecosystem for a long timeto come.

Amidst all this, the report shows that we have con-tinued to apply ourselves determinedly to thedaily task of painstakingly regaining lost ground inthe industrial arena. We have been winning pay in-creases across the private and commercial semi-state sectors. The process of pay restoration in thepublic service began with the Lansdowne RoadAgreement in the middle of 2015 and continuedwith the proposals for its extension this year.Meanwhile, we are still fighting rear guard battlesin companies such as Bus Eireann to maintain jobsand conditions in the face of considerable odds.

We have also begun to utilise the provisions of theimproved legal infrastructure for Collective Bar-gaining in the 2015 Act, to win new recognitionagreements.

Simultaneously, we have continued to workthrough ICTU and other civil society organisationsas well as political parties who share our egalitar-ian world view and outlook, to lobby and campaign for progress. Our perspective remainsinternational and we have continued to do what-ever we can to extend solidarity to those who arestruggling against oppression, particularly in Pales-tine and Colombia, in conjunction with tradeunionists, socialists and progressive people acrossthe world.

In order to best equip ourselves to carry on thiswork of organising to win, as the fourth industrialrevolution – the age of digitalisation – unfolds, weembarked on the first of a series of major member-ship consultations throughout the latter half of2016. This extended into the spring of this year. Itresulted in the adoption of a range of recommen-dations to strengthen the union, at a Special Delegate Conference on 25th May. All of them aredesigned to enable us to play our full part in ensuring that working people will have the indus-trial leverage and political capacity to influencethe architecture of the future in Ireland, in accor-dance with the values of social solidarity, which in-formed the heroic people who founded the union.

Jack O’Connor July 2017

SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016


Composite Motions (i) Standing Orders ReportNo. 2 – to replace Motions 1, 2, 3 and 4, ZeroHours Contracts

‘That this Conference opposes the utilisation ofzero and low hour contracts in any employmentand calls on the National Executive Council to actively lobby the Government on the urgentneed for legislative reform to protect workers inthe area of zero and low hour contracts so as toprevent the possibility of such exploitative em-ployment practices.’

Submitted by: The Transport Sector – Utilities & Construction Division, The Mayo District Council, TheWholesale, Retail, Distribution Section – Services Division, The Galway District Council.

Progress to date

This issue has been progressed through the ICTUPrivate Sector Committee, particularly by theServices Division. The Department of Jobs, Enter-prise and Innovation agreed to a consultative talksprocess involving ICTU and IBEC aimed at draftingnew legislative proposals. The talks took place between September 2016 and February 2017. Thenegotiators also made an oral submission to theJoint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterpriseand Innovation.

On 2 May 2017, the Government approved draftlegislative proposals. The proposals are the Headsof Bill and not the Bill itself.

The implications of the proposed legislation canonly be fully ascertained when a Bill is drafted. Theprinciple objective of the Bill will be achieved byamending two existing statutes, namely, theTerms of Employment (Information) Act 1994 andthe Organisation of Working Time Act 1997. How-ever, we expect that the proposed legislationwould:

• Prohibit zero hour contracts except in cases ofgenuine casual work or emergency cover or short-term relief work for that employer

• Ensure that workers are better informed aboutthe nature of their employment arrangements andin particular on five core terms of employment within five days of commencing employment. Currently an employer has two months to providean employee with terms of their employment

• Strengthen the provisions around minimum payments to low-paid, vulnerable workers whomay be called in to work for a period but not provided with that work. It is suggested that this will come in the form of a “floor payment”of three hours at three times the national minimum wage (currently €9.25 per hour) or three times the minimum rate in an ERO (e.g. the Contract Cleaning and Private Security Orders) in the circumstance where an employee is called in to work but does not receive the expected hours of work

• Ensure that workers on low hour contracts whoconsistently work more hours each week thanprovided for in their contracts of employment,are entitled to be placed in a band of hours thatreflects the reality of the hours they have worked over an extended period

• Strengthen the anti-victimisation provisions foremployees who try to invoke their rights underthese proposals

• Create a criminal offence arising from a failureto provide a statement in accordance with s.3of the Terms of Employment (Information) Act,as amended.

(5) Living Wage

‘That this conference calls on the National Execu-tive Council to redouble its efforts in regard to theachievement of a Living Wage and in so doinghelp to tackle child poverty in this country.’

Submitted by the Sligo/Leitrim/Roscommon DistrictCouncil

Progress to date

Actively campaigning to implement this, along

Progress Report on BDC

2015 Resolutions

7

8 SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016

with Congress – it is a very important aspect of ourindustrial strategy going forward.

Composite Motion (ii) Standing Orders ReportNo. 2 – to replace Motions 6 and 7

‘Conference condemns the continued refusal ofthe Irish Hotels Federation, Restaurants Associa-tion of Ireland and Retail Excellence Ireland to en-gage in the Joint Labour Committee process andcalls on the National Executive Council to makethe strongest possible representation to lobby theGovernment to remove the present veto againstthe introduction of JLCs for Hotels and restaurantworkers that was agreed with the Irish Hotel Fed-eration as part of a settlement. Tens of thousandsof hotel and restaurant workers in Ireland havebeen driven to poverty due to the lack of a JLCwhich should protect against zero hours, no pre-miums, no sick pay, no pensions and minimumwage being the norm. Therefore, it is imperativethat the JLC for these vulnerable workers is re-stored’.

‘Conference affirms that the path to ‘Decent Workand Decent Lives’ for the workers in these indus-tries is through a collectively bargained processthat delivers an Employment Regulation Orderwith fair rates of pay, fair hours of work and decentconditions of employment’.

‘Conference notes that it is Government policythat workers in these Sectors be covered by aJoint Labour Committee’.

‘Conference therefore calls on Government:

(a) That in the event of the continued refusal of theIrish Hotels Federation, Restaurants Association ofIreland, and the Retail Employer Groups to engagein the Joint Labour Committee process, that theapproved Government policy on the reduced VATrate which benefits these industries be reviewedwith a view to its removal.

(b) That in the event of the confirmed refusal of theIrish Hotels Federation, Restaurants Association ofIreland, and the Retail Employer Groups to engagein the JLC process that the Oireachtas introduceappropriate measures so as to guide the LabourCourt to deal with the matter by passing legisla-tion consistent with the intent of Section 11 of the1969 Industrial Relations Act.’

Submitted by: The Services Divisional Committee, TheHotels Catering Leisure and Print Media Sector – Services Division.

Progress to date

Representations directly to Government and theICTU. Inclusion in Pre-budget submissions. Variouspublic statements have been made.

Thus far we have not been able to shift Govern-ment policy on the issue.

(8) Review of the Employment Protective Legislative Framework

‘Conference acknowledges that there is a signifi-cant body of Employment Protective Legislationin this State, but that notwithstanding this fact,workers in Ireland are still exposed to seriousforms of exploitation by unscrupulous employers,particularly but not exclusively in Sectors of theeconomy where there are low levels of trade uniondensity and where there are low levels of collec-tive bargaining arrangements’.

‘Conference therefore calls on the National Exec-utive Council and the General Officers to under-take a review of the Employment ProtectiveLegislative Framework with a view to building alobbying campaign to ensure that such legislationprovides maximum protections to working peo-ple, is robustly enforced and that there are strongpenalties for non-compliance by employers.’

Submitted by the Services Divisional Committee

Progress to date

The main work on this issue has been conductedby the Services Division which has been activelyinvolved in a number of initiatives aimed atstrengthening employment protective legislationincluding:

• Drafting a submission to the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation on the Report and Recommendations Arising from the University of Limerick Study on the Prevalence of Zero Hours Contracts and Low Hour Contracts in the Economy

• Lobbying the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation and subsequently involved in aconsultative talks process aimed at amending the Terms of Employment (Information) Act and the Organisation of Working Time Act in order to provide further and better protectionagainst unfair employment practices in respect of working hours and casualization


and the introduction of a statutory right for a contract of employment which reflects the reality of hours worked over an extended period.

• Lobbying for an amendment to the CompetitionAct. The Competition (Amendment) Act 2017 was enacted into law on 7th June. It exempts a number of named categories of workers including session musicians, voice-over actorsand freelance journalists from section 4 of the Competition Act 2002 thereby allowing themto engage in collective bargaining. In addition,the Act provides for a formal process which allows trade unions apply for similar exemptionsfor certain categories of self-employed workerse.g. bogus self-employed workers, certain categories of gig economy workers.

• Lobbied for an examination of employee protective legislation and company legislationarising out of the liquidation of Clerys and collective redundancy of staff. Protested at the Department of Jobs Enterprise and Innovationfor 11 consecutive weeks in the winter of 2015 to force the Government’s hand in reviewing the legislation. In January 2016 the Department announced the Expert Examinationand Review of Laws Protecting Employee Interests to be conducted by Mr Kevin Duffy and Ms Nessa Cahill BL. The stated purpose ofthe review was to examine the legal protectionavailable for workers’ interests where collectiveredundancies arise in consequence of certain types of corporate restructuring involving theseparation of assets from the operational activity of a business. The Division made a submission to Duffy and Cahill. A review of the Companies Act was also announced in January 2016 to examine matters arising from the Clerys closure. An Ad Hoc Committee of the Company Law Review Group was established with former head of SIPTU’s Legal Rights Unit, Michael Halpenny, representing the ICTU on the committee. The Ad Committeeis still examining the matter.

• Lobbying the Low Pay Commission on Board and Lodgings deductions from workers’ wages during the course of its review of the National Minimum Wage Acts provisions in respect of Board and Lodgings.

(9) Collective Bargaining, Organising and SEOs(Sector Employment Orders)

‘Conference notes and welcomes the publicationof legislation which will reconstitute REA’s (Regis-tered Employment Agreements) for unions andspecific employments and potentially introduceSEO’s (Sector Employment Orders) for given sec-tors and industries. The Construction industry andits workers having suffered with the collapse of theregime of REA’s notes the huge potential to takewages out of competition, to create a level play-ing pitch in tendering for work and to recruit andorganise workers with the prospect of an SEO forthe Construction industry and indeed other indus-tries and sectors. Conference therefore calls onthe NEC to ensure that this union and indeed thewider movement use the new legislation consis-tently, strategically and with the dual purpose ofrecruiting and organising workers into member-ship and developing sector wide conditions of em-ployment where appropriate.’

Submitted by the Utilities & Construction DivisionalCommittee

Progress to date

SIPTU set up an internal committee to look at thevarious opportunities in relation to collective bar-gaining and issues arising from the IR (Amend-ment) Act 2015. We continue to seekopportunities under the legislation to pursue SEOsand REAs.

Construction Sector:

As part of Congress, the CIC made its submissionin response to the CIF application to the LabourCourt for a Construction SEO. THE CIC submissionincluded a claim for statutory minimum ratesequivalent to a minimum pay increase of 10.2%(7.5% restoration of cuts imposed under the 2010LCR19847 and a 2.5% increase), resulting in theminimum craft rate increasing from €17.21 to€18.96 with retention of the relativity for GeneralOperatives of 97% - A Grade, 91% - B Grade and88% - C grade i.e. this being a new and vastly im-proved starter rate. The existing starter rate is 80%- D Grade, which would be removed altogetherunder the CIC proposal. Other issues put forwardin the CIC Submission to the Labour Court in-cluded Pension, Sick Pay, Disputes Procedures andTravel Time. The CWPS also made a submission tothe Labour Court as part of this SEO process. The


Labour Court hearing took place on June 26th2017 and the Court has issued its Recommenda-tion to the Minister for Jobs Enterprise and Innova-tion on July 16th. While the Recommendation restswith the Minister and is not yet available to theemployers and Trade unions, the Minister has is-sued a statement confirming that the rates of paywill increase by 10% for Craft (€18.93) and GeneralOperative (€18.36 & €17.04) with no change to thestarting rate of €13.77. While it is expected thatother matters relating to Pension, Sick Pay andTravel Time will be addressed the Minister hasmade no comment about same in her statementand the Trade union side awaits the issuance ofthe Labour Court Recommendation.

Aviation Sector

Developments are continuing at a slow pace withthe agreement and full support of Swissport tobring about an SEO for 3rd Party Ground HandlingOperatives. When achieved, this will ensure thatSwissport’s competitors in the Cork, Dublin andShannon Airports are no longer able to massivelyundercut Swissport labour costs and will greatlyimprove the chances of organising these workers.We would argue that we are ‘substantially repre-sented’ in the Sector as we would have over 33%density, directly through our membership rightacross Swissport.

(10) TUPE Regulations

‘Workers in contract Security and Contract Clean-ing are employed in an industry that is subject tocontractors changing on a regular basis. Whilemost Contractors do honour TUPE Regulations,this is not the case in all situations leaving ourmembers exposed to risks of displacement. There-fore, Conference calls on the National ExecutiveCouncil to establish a political campaign to amendthe TUPE legislation to extend the protections af-forded in the legislation to workers employed incontract services.’

Submitted by the Security, Contract Cleaning, Insurance& Finance Sector – Services Division

Progress to date

In a submission to the Duffy Cahill Review Group’sExpert Examination and Review of Laws ProtectingEmployee Interests in February 2016, SIPTU argued strongly for the amendment of the TUPE

regulations.

In the absence of securing a commitment toamend and strengthen the TUPE Regulations, theunion pursued and secured enhanced protectionsfor workers in the Employment Regulation Orderfor both the security industry and the contractcleaning industry. The provisions, which are legallybinding, afford workers a statutory entitlement toreceive 30 days’ notice of a change in contractoralong with a statement from the outgoing em-ployer of their terms and conditions of employ-ment, length of service and annual leave balance.These provisions will go some way towards pro-tecting the interests of workers undergoing atransfer to a new employer.

SIPTU’s Workers Rights Centre, in conjunctionwith the Services Division, had a significant victoryin a decision on applying transfer of undertakingsin the security industry at the Employment Ap-peals Tribunal. SIPTU, had claimed that Top Secu-rity had failed to employ the workers when it tookover a contract at the Chief State Solicitor’s Officein Dublin. The Employment Appeals Tribunalbacked the workers’ case, which had been an ap-peal against a Rights Commissioner’s rejection oftheir claim. The Tribunal awarded them amountsvarying from €1,800 to €6,600 for a breach ofRegulation 8 of SI 131/2003, relating to informa-tion and consultation obligations.

Top Security appealed to the High Court and aftera hearing in December 2016, the judge in findingfor the workers said that there was “a fairly uniquesituation” in that the workers had been in one lo-cation for a long period and there had alreadybeen a transfer before their last employment andthe applicant had been on notice about TUPE but“ignored” it. The High Court decision has been ap-pealed by Top Security to the Court of Appeal.

(11) Employment Regulation Orders/Cleaners’Charter

‘Many union Members are directly employed bythe Clients who procure both Security and Con-tract Cleaning services, and in the interest of build-ing union strength in these workplaces, thisConference calls on the National Executive Councilin conjunction with the Divisional Committees andSector Committees to support both Security Offi-cers and Contract Cleaners in relation to the rollout of a campaign on the implementation of the


proposed EROs once ratified, and to further sup-port the Sector’s campaign in relation to the intro-duction of the Cleaners Charter: a Charter aimedat Clients, and which promotes a responsible Con-tractor Policy for the Cleaning industry.’

Submitted by the Security, Contract Cleaning, Insurance & Finance Sector – Services Division

Progress to date

The Services Division undertook an informationcampaign to highlight the provisions of the Em-ployment Regulation Orders in contract cleaningand private security among workers.

The Strategic Organising Department met with theHead of Procurement in the HSE who agreed tosupport the Cleaners Charter. This was followedby engagement with management of BeaumontHospital and Tallaght Hospital.

The Division made a strategic decision to nomi-nate a colleague to participate in a UNI-Global Eu-ropean Expert Group aimed at developing aEurope-wide guide for public and private sectororganisations procuring contract cleaning serv-ices. The guide will incorporate recent changes inthe European Public Procurement Directive. Whenpublished, it is intended to combine the guide andthe Cleaners Charter when engaging with Pro-curement Officers in client companies and organ-isations.

The Division piloted a new initiative with the Man-ufacturing Division the objective of which is towork in collaboration with colleagues in Manufac-turing to organise contract services workers inSIPTU-organised manufacturing plants. It is in-tended to broaden this approach in other divi-sions.

(12) Campaign for Decent Work

‘Recognising the exponential growth of precariousemployment, characterised by low pay, zero hourcontacts and insecurity of tenure generally, whichis diametrically at odds with the aspirations of the1916 Proclamation, Conference resolves that SIPTUwill undertake a major, properly funded and re-sourced campaign for Decent Jobs. This will beconducted, along with others in the Trade unionMovement, if possible, in a sustained manner overthe medium term. The campaign will be located inselected economic sectors where exploitation inthe workplace is most rampant. The objective of

the campaign will be to highlight abuses and toencourage workers affected, to organise so thatthey can assert their right to fairness and dignityat work, through the process of Collective Bar-gaining and to support them in doing so.’

Submitted by the National Executive Council

Progress to dateThe campaign has been focused in the Care Sector.

Caring work, whether in the home or in employ-ment, has always been undervalued. And it’s nocoincidence that this work is done mostly bywomen.

We can see this clearly in the pay and conditionsof workers. Sectors like childcare and elder careare rife with precarious contacts, low pay and lowstatus. There is very littler recognition for this im-portant and demanding work.

If we want to challenge precarious work we needto organise workers into SIPTU so they can fightfor decent pay and contracts. This is why ourunion has launched the care campaign focusing onchildcare, home care and nursing homes.

Over the past 18 months, our union has been suc-cessfully organising childcare workers (Early YearsEducators) with the ‘Big Start’ Campaign

We know from countless studies that quality earlyyears has benefits for children’s development andsociety in general. For every €1 the state spendson quality early years it yields a return of €4 - €9.

But because Ireland invests about half of what itshould do into Early Year Care and Education, wehave qualified workers, some with a Masters, on€10.27 per hour, 1000’s on precarious 15 hours /38 week contacts and a turnover rate of 28%.

How does this support quality childcare? It does-n’t, the sector is in crisis.

The ‘Big Start’ Campaign is fighting for increasedstate investment to radically transform the earlyyears sector and establish a Sectoral EmploymentOrder to set minimum rates of pay.

We are doing this by building a union of workerswho can take effective action to put quality at theheart of the governments early years policy.

To date the Big Start Campaign has establishedcounty networks across the country and activistsare taking action such as lobbying TDs and Sena-tors, getting motions passed at local councils,


holding public meeting and petition signing daysand presenting at Leinster House.

In July of this year the Dail passed an unopposedmotion in support of greater investment in the sec-tor and the establishment of a Sectoral Employ-ment Order, a key SIPTU demand.

(13) Bullying At Work

‘Bullying is repeated inappropriate behaviour thatundermines a person’s right to dignity at work. Itcan be done by one or more persons and it isaimed at an individual or a group to make themfeel inferior to other people. It can have a devas-tating effect on an employee’.

‘There is no formal statutory channel for resolvingbullying complaints. The Codes of Practice cur-rently applicable under the Health and Safety andWelfare at Work Act, 2005 and the Industrial Re-lations Act 1990, are not legally enforceable. Thissituation can be contrasted with the approach toHarassment and Sexual Harassment claims whichare clearly and narrowly defined in the Employ-ment Equality Acts. Such complaints can beprocessed through to the Adjudicator/EqualityTribunal at the Workplace Relations Commission,and eventually to the Labour Court if necessary. Incontrast, the worker making a bullying complainthas no defined formal mechanism for redressunder Employment Law’.

‘There is now a need for anti-bullying legislationwhich, amongst other things, should define whatworkplace bullying is. Such legislation should alsooutline the internal procedures needed to dealwith bullying complaints, including mediation, andidentify a formal route for adjudication of bullyingcomplaints through to the Workplace RelationsCommission’.

‘Conference calls on the NEC to initiate a cam-paign for the introduction of such legislation andlobby political parties with a view to them includ-ing it in their manifestos for the forthcoming gen-eral election.’

Submitted by the State Related Sector, Public Admin. &Community Division

Progress to dateWe are in the process of trying to establish bestpractice around Dignity at Work policies. In thisregard, we are also interacting with the Legal

Rights Unit.

The Labour Party produced a Charter for workersin the context of its General Election Manifesto in2016 which included a pledge to legislate on theissue.

(14) Negotiating Structure in the Community andVoluntary Sector

‘That this conference calls on the National Execu-tive Council to seek to establish a negotiatingstructure with the various Government Depart-ments and State Agencies involved in funding andpolicy formation in the Community and VoluntarySector so that a robust and effective mechanismfor dealing with the legitimate aspirations forwage increases and pension scheme funding in-troductions can be established.’

Submitted by the Community Sector, Public Admin. &Community Division Community Forum established.

Progress to date

Very problematic as the Government side arefailing to engage meaningfully. A process of con-sultation with the Community Sector is ongoing.

(15) Removal of the Public Service Moratorium

‘Conference calls on the National Executive Councilto seek the full removal of the Public Service Morato-rium in all areas of the Public Sector. Recognisingthe increased flexibility and productivity being de-livered by Public Servants, we are also seekingthat recruitment of permanent staff be prioritisedin areas such as the Local Authority sector thathave been disproportionally affected by the ef-fects of the Moratorium in order to maintain thosequality frontline services to the public.’

Submitted by the Local Authority Sector, Public Admin.& Community Division

Addendum to Motion 15:

‘Conference further calls for an end to the tar-geted policy of the non-replacement and out-sourcing of non-academic jobs in the statesponsored third level colleges. Moreover that fu-ture state funding for these roles would be condi-tional on a policy of direct employment, with theeventual aim of using anticipated growth in theSector to reverse the exaggerated effects of themoratorium on this group, along with the mini-


mum requirement to replace staff turnover on apermanent like-for-like basis.’

Motion 15 with Addendum to read:

‘Conference calls on the National Executive Coun-cil to seek the full removal of the Public ServiceMoratorium in all areas of the Public Sector.Recognising the increased flexibility and produc-tivity being delivered by Public Servants, we arealso seeking that recruitment of permanent staffbe prioritised in areas such as the Local Authoritysector that have been disproportionally affectedby the effects of the Moratorium in order to main-tain those quality frontline services to the public’.

‘Conference further calls for an end to the tar-geted policy of the non-replacement and out-sourcing of non-academic jobs in the statesponsored third level colleges. Moreover that fu-ture state funding for these roles would be condi-tional on a policy of direct employment, with theeventual aim of using anticipated growth in theSector to reverse the exaggerated effects of themoratorium on this group, along with the mini-mum requirement to replace staff turnover on apermanent like-for-like basis.’

Submitted by the Education Sector, Public Admin. &Community Division

Progress to date

Moratorium technically gone. However, restrictedemployment practices are being imposed in anumber of areas in the Public Sector.

The union are actively pursuing the issue of work-force planning in a number of areas in an effort toaddress this issue.

To date, progress can be recorded.

(16) Outsourcing of Public Services

‘Recognising the recent bad experiences of out-sourced Public Services, where services to thepublic have declined, costs have risen and workersterms and conditions have been reduced, Confer-ence calls on the National Executive Council toseek that a proper value for money audit on all ex-isting outsourced services be conducted to incor-porate the full cost to the state.’

Submitted by the Local Authority Sector, Public Admin.& Community Division

Progress to date

The issue of the Service Delivery Option containedin the LRA is critical to dealing with this issue. Inactively pursuing the Service Delivery Option con-tained in the LRA, the terms of this motion arebeing explored in direct negotiation with the var-ious employers. The relevant sectors are also re-viewing the terms of this motion.

An attempt by the Management side to alter theterms of the Service Delivery Option in discussionson an Extension of the Lansdowne Road Agree-ment was firmly rejected by the union side andwas finally accepted by Management.

(17) Outsourcing in Third Level Education

‘That this conference notes with dissatisfaction theoutsourcing agenda of public sector managersand in particular the attempts to outsource workdone by our non-academic members in third leveleducation. Conference recognises this as part ofthe agenda to commercialise our HEIs and con-demns this wholeheartedly. Conference further re-solves to mandate our committees to challengethis head on at local and national level and in par-ticular to directly engage with the Irish UniversitiesAssociation to defend our jobs and defend decentwork in our HEIs. Conference further notes the out-sourcing by stealth through the use of campuscompanies and mandates our committees locallyand nationally to campaign for standardised con-tracts which do not recognise “Chinese Walls” be-tween workers who are employed on the samecampus and by the same employer.’

Submitted by the Education Sector, Public Admin.& Community Division

Progress to date

The Education Sector supported by the Division,is engaging directly with employers on Workforceplans to ensure employers are meeting their obli-gation to use direct labour to the greatest possibleextent.

(18) Protecting the Rights of Performing Artists

‘The Arts & Culture Sector call on the NEC to adopta policy that adequately protects the rights of per-formers in terms of working conditions and intel-lectual property. This policy should provide that:

1. All agreements entered into on behalf of themembership make provision for the equitable re-muneration for the exploitation of the performers


work and implements fully the protections af-forded to professional performers under the IrishCopyright Legislation.

2. An auditing clause be included in any futureagreement containing royalties and residuals feesso as to allow for the auditing of production com-panies, national and international, to ensure thatthe returns of the production companies are cor-rect and payments are in line with the agreementsnegotiated with the union

3. Irish Equity is provided with the necessarystructure to track, implement and protect ourrights nationally and internationally, when con-tracts that provide for equitable remuneration forthe exploitation of the performers work have beenachieved.

4. The creation of an effective structure to takeany action necessary to protect and maximize therights of the performer as enshrined in any agree-ment negotiated by the union where those rightsare breached.’

Submitted by the Arts & Culture Sector, Services Division

Progress to date

This motion does not require any further actionother that for the Executive of Irish Equity and theExecutive of the MUI to have continued ownershipof it so that it may inform their thinking when mak-ing decisions about productions and perform-ances. The Arts & Culture Sector has acomprehensive policy document covering the po-sition for future agreements and both Executiveswill have responsibility for ensuring that futureagreements are made in line with the Sector policyand with Motion 18.

(19) Collective Bargaining Rights for Musiciansand Voiceover Artists

‘SIPTU is currently prevented from negotiating col-lectively for musicians and voiceover artists as aresult of the Decision of the Competition Authority(No.E/04/002 of 2004). The refusal of the Com-petition and Consumer Protection Commissionersto revise the Decision No.E/04/002 of 2004 hav-ing regard to the Court of Justice of the Europeanunion (Case C-413/13) ruling on December 4th2014 in the case of FNV Kunsten Informatie enMedia v Staat der Nederlanen has significant impli-cations for the previous Decision and the correctinterpretation of Competition Law in Ireland’.

‘Consequently, the Arts & Culture Sector, call onthe NEC to commence a political campaign in con-

junction with the ICTU and its affiliate unions toachieve the required legislative change to allowfor collective bargaining for these categories ofworkers promised but not delivered by the thenGovernment after the Decision No. E/04/002 of2004.’

Submitted by the Arts & Culture Sector, Services Divi-sion

Progress to date

Significant movement has occurred on this issuesince the BDC. The Competition (Amendment) Bill2016 was presented by Ivana Bacik, Labour Sena-tor. The Bill had its first reading in the Dail on Tues-day February 28th where it was presented by AlanKelly Labour TD and again it continued to have allparty support. The Bill provided for collective bar-gaining through an exemption from Section 4 ofthe Competition Act for certain categories and forSIPTU that is specifically freelance voice over ac-tors and session freelance session musicians. TheBill also allowed for a trade union to make an ap-plication on behalf of other categories of workersto apply for the same exemption and it provides adefinition of false self-employed. The Bill was en-acted into law on 7th June 2017 as the Competi-tion (Amendment) Act 2017.

(20) The Impact of the Regulator on Employmentin the Commercial Semi state Sector

‘Conference notes that across the commercialsemi state sectors including Energy, Transport andAviation the role of the given Regulator is havingan increasing impact on the environment whichmembers’ employments operate and compete in.Whilst we have previously campaigned for andfully support the principle and concept of compre-hensive regulation in such industries and sectors,conference calls on the NEC to carry out a studyon the impact of the given Regulator and theirpolicies in such industries may have on the condi-tions of employment of members, in an ever in-creasing environment of market liberalisation.’

Submitted by the Utilities & Construction DivisionalCommittee

Progress to date

Awaiting implementation.


(21) Violence and Aggression in the Workplace

‘Conference calls on the National Executive Coun-cil to support a campaign which highlights theneed for a comprehensive review of policies de-signed to protect staff from experiencing violenceand aggression in the workplace. Health workersacross different disciplines of the service are par-ticularly vulnerable to experiencing violence andaggression in the workplace. An appropriate re-view must be conducted to ensure that the nec-essary deterrents, protections and support forstaff are in place and suitable to meet the needsrequired.’

Submitted by the Nurse & Midwife Sector, Health Divi-sion

Progress to date

SIPTU pursued the terms of this motion with HSEManagement. However, this issue remains prob-lematic for our members.

(22) Full Pension Rights on Retirement

‘That this Conference calls on the National Execu-tive Council to confront the Department of Healthand the HSE on their continued failure to pay ourmembers their full pension entitlements, and alloutstanding pay on their confirmed retirementdate. This would end the hardship currently beingexperienced by members through non-payment oftheir full pension entitlements for periods exceed-ing a year in some cases.’

Submitted by the Support Sector, Health Division

Progress to date

Following activity by the Health Division with thePensions Ombudsman, significant progress wasmade and the identification of the relevant areasin the Health Sector led to a resolution. However,the union continues to monitor the situation.

(23) National Ambulance Service

‘That this Conference calls on the National Execu-tive Council to fully support our members in theNational Ambulance Service. Our members con-tinue to provide an excellent frontline service toour communities and continue to enhance theirskills and knowledge to provide our communitieswith one of the best public Ambulance Services inEurope and the world’.

‘We call on Government and relevant departmentsto insure that:

(a) Our National Ambulance Service is properly re-sourced with staff and equipment to deliver thespecialised service and care to our communities.

(b) That the bodies and authorities with responsi-bility for carrying out reviews take seriously intoaccount the financial deficits, geographic loca-tions, or availability of equipment and requiredstaffing levels when issuing their reports and anyrecommendations.’

Submitted by the National Ambulance Sector, Health Di-vision

Progress to date

National Ambulance - Capacity Review has beenpublished and it recommends 461 posts plus 100vacancies – 561.

We need to interrogate the report. Likely to leadto industrial action in order to achieve its imple-mentation.

We continue to support the campaign regardingthe demand that the National Ambulance Serviceis fully resourced in line with the terms of this mo-tion.

In July 2016 we achieved, we achieved the follow-ing having served notice of strike action.

1) Commitment to recruit 600 Ambulance Profes-sionals over a 4-5 year period

2) A 32 million euro injection of funds to resolveall issues identified in National Ambulance ServiceCapacity Review report

3) Monies to be spent on new Ambulance fleet,technologies and other capital spending require-ments.

4) Commitment to engage on outstanding issuesform the Lansdowne Road Agreement

(24) Development Plan for the union

‘Conference, recognising the onset of a new pe-riod in Ireland and in Europe, in the aftermath ofthe greatest systemic crisis in Capitalism since theWall Street crash of 1929, which will be charac-terised by increasing recourse to precarious workand diminishing standards of employment, re-solves to formulate a Development Plan to enablethe union to best equip members and workingpeople generally to meet these challenges’.

‘To this end, Conference directs the National Ex-ecutive Council to initiate a major consultation ex-


ercise throughout 2016, entailing engagementwith Divisional, Sector and Section Committeesand District Councils as well as Shop Stewards,union Activists and individual members’.

‘Conference also directs that upon completionand taking due account of the external advicebased on the experiences of other Trade unions inIreland and internationally, a Development Plan beformulated to be submitted for consideration of aSpecial Delegate Conference early in 2017.’


Progress to date

The membership consultation exercise has beencompleted. The Special Delegate Conference tookplace on 25th May 2017 resulting in the adoptionof a comprehensive Report and Recommenda-tions.

(25) SIPTU in the Community – Density Building

‘The AIF&D Sector calls on the N.E.C. to investigatethe possibility of fully utilising the unions premisesaround the Country towards establishing localdrop in and information centres whereby the unioncan strengthen its links with local people andutilise the premises and facilities as organisingtools to enhance union influence and density in theCommunity and local industries and enterprises.’

Submitted by the Agri Ingredients Food and Drink Sector– Manufacturing Division

Progress to date

This issue was addressed in the Development Planwhich was adopted at the Special Delegate Confer-ence on 25th May 2017, following the MembershipConsultative Initiative. It is dealt with at Sections 5,Organising at Local Level and 6, The Workers’ RightsCentre/Welcome Centres.

This provides for the re-establishment for localdemocratically based structures and the exten-sion of the Workers’ Rights/Welcome Centresthroughout the Country over the medium term.

(26) Navan Office/Pilot Project

‘That Conference calls on our National ExecutiveCouncil for greater utilisation of the Navan Officeas a Pilot Project to regain SIPTU lost presence inthe Community. The Dan Shaw Centre would be-come a Centre which would embrace the idea ofreaching out to grass root membership and widerCommunity Organisations’.

‘This Centre would be fully resourced but not lim-ited to embracing a Phone in, Phone out Bank andKnow Your Rights Centre.’

Submitted by the Meath District Council

Progress to date

Following the BDC 2015, work commenced on de-veloping Workers’ Rights Centres at SIPTU officesaround the country. To date, Welcome Centreshave been opened in Dublin, Cork, Navan, Traleeand Sligo, while Centres in Galway, Kilkenny andCarlow are scheduled to open in the near future.Further Centres are being identified and preparedthroughout the country with an immediate focuson Limerick and Waterford.

(27) Organising through Social Media

‘From an organising perspective nothing can re-place face to face interaction with potential newmembers, however social media can be an effec-tive communication and organising tool. The unioncurrently has an on-line presence and the use ofsocial networking is expanding the union’s lobby-ing reach to a wider audience. Many trade unionsnow recognise that social media is the news andsocial medium of choice for most young workersand the use of social networking will increase sig-nificantly into the future. A training programme foractivists and staff taking on board internationaltrade union experience with social networking asan organising tool will ensure that the union cap-tures the full organising and lobbying potential ofSocial Media’.

‘Conference calls on the National Executive Coun-cil to ensure that organising through socialmedia/networking training is provided by SIPTUCollege in conjunction with the Organising andCampaigns departments to the staff and activistswithin each Division of the union.’

Submitted by the Pharmaceutical Chemical Medical Devices Sector - Manufacturing Division

Progress to date

Between January 2015 and December 2016, thenumber of followers on SIPTU’s main Facebookpage rose over 126%. (+10,000). Twitter page sawa growth in followers of 279%. (+9000) SIPTU hasseen consistent growth in followers across mostof the active social media pages run by the union.The number of videos SIPTU has produced for so-cial media has continued to increase drastically.From approximately 12 videos produced in 2014to over 50 videos distributed via social media in


2016. This year (2017), the union has already pro-duced close to 100 quality videos. This is labourintensive, however the quantity of video produc-tion has been increased almost cost neutrallyusing our existing resources.

SIPTU has grown in terms of the way it uses socialmedia as an organising tool, for instance, SIPTUsuccessfully utilised social media with the Big StartCampaign, producing video content, general so-cial media content and two way communicationbetween activists and the organisation. As well asthis, SIPTU has used Nationbuilder to develop adatabase of over 14,000 people who get regularupdates regarding the campaign in the form of so-cial media posts and direct emails. This has helpedenhance organising on the shop floor. SIPTU alsoused social media effectively in terms of commu-nicating with workers and the general public dur-ing large scale nation disputes such as those in thetransport sector.

Working with SIPTU College, the Campaigns &Equality Unit have launched a one day trainingcourse which is available to staff in each divisionof the union, and which will be rolled out to unionmembers. The Campaigns and Equality Unit hasalso delivered numerous presentations on bestpractice in social media to various committees andgroups of activists within the union.

“SIPTU College has recently launched its ownFacebook page and also will have an interactivewebsite shortly. Already the Facebook page hassparked interest in the College and its trainingcourses with over 200 visits in the first weekalone. “

In recent times, more and more news content pro-duced by the unions has become available on so-cial media using the Medium platform to quicklydisperse the unions message.

(28) The Political Fund

‘Conference resolves that a review of the use ofthe Political Fund be undertaken, entailing exten-sive consultations with Divisional and Sector Com-mittees, District Councils and otherwisethroughout the union and that following same, areport should be prepared by the National Execu-tive Council to be submitted for consideration ata Special Conference early in 2017.’


Progress to date

The national consultation has been completed. Areport was submitted to the Special Delegate

Conference which took place on 25th May 2017and it was adopted.

Essentially it provides for the retention of the Po-litical Fund on the basis of a contribution of 2centper member per week. It will continue to be usedto fund political campaigns. The union will alsocontinue to have the option of providing financialsupport to members contesting Local, Nationaland European elections. However, this will beavailable to all members irrespective of their po-litical affiliation on condition that they sign apledge to promote the policies of the union, asdrawn up by the National Executive Council.

(29) Political Affiliation

‘That this conference resolves to disaffiliate fromthe Irish Labour Party and instead establishes a re-lationship with communities groups and parties ofleft to further the interests of our members.’

Submitted by the Education Sector Public Admin. &Community Division

Progress to date

Following debate the motion was remitted forconsideration by the National Executive Council.

This matter was the subject of a Report which wasapproved at the Special Delegate Conference on25th May 2017 viz;

“In the interim the Labour Party has amended anumber of aspects of its Constitution. These in-clude the provisions which apply in respect of“Group Membership”. This concerns Trade unions,Sections or Divisions of unions, Professional Asso-ciations, Co-operative Societies and certain othercategories of organisation. As a result of theseamendments the rules governing the participationand involvement of Trade unionists in the LabourParty have been altered. The Party Constitution re-tains the Party section known as Labour Tradeunionists, but the concept of Trade unions affiliat-ing as Institutions has been discontinued.

Accordingly the issue of SIPTU, or any other Tradeunion, affiliating to the Labour Party no longerarises.

With regard to the question of relationships withCommunity Groups and Parties of the Left, the Na-tional Executive Council has resolved that thesematters should fall to be considered from time totime by the National Executive Council and or byBiennial (or Special) Delegate Conferences as ap-propriate.”


(30) Housing Crisis

‘Conference welcomes the new recognition at so-cial, activist, media and governmental levels of aserious housing crisis in Ireland. This crisis of home-lessness, mortgage arrears, home repossessions,rent rises and shortages of social housing and pri-vate rental accommodation threatens to intensifyin severity’.

‘Conference calls on the government and all re-sponsible agencies to tackle this crisis with an ur-gent strategy that emphasises the provision ofpublicly-owned social housing for affordable rentsand new local authority house-building with directunionised labour. Conference calls on the govern-ment to front load the application of funds fromthe Social Housing Strategy 2020’.

‘Conference calls on the National Executive Coun-cil to initiate a broad-based national housing cam-paign around a programme of measures to includethe following, and calls on all concerned withhousing needs to support it:

• No loss of principal residency due to genuine economic distress.

• Mortgage debt relief and write down.

• The preparation and use of suitable empty units for social housing.

• Large scale construction/regeneration/provision of publicly owned social housing with direct trade union labour.

• Decent pay and conditions in construction with as a minimum the enforcement of high standard employment and wages regulation.

• Rent control in the private rental sector.

• Security of tenure in the private rental sector.

• Rent allowance that meets actual rent costs

• The retention of housing assistance recipientson the housing waiting lists.

• Adequate provision of emergency accommodation.’

Submitted by the Dublin District Council

Progress to date

In 2015 the union became one of the foundingmembers of the Homelessness and Housing Coali-tion. This group is a mixture of trade unions, polit-ical parties, NGO’s and front line volunteer groups.The aim of the Coalition is to lobby Governmentto deal adequately with the homeless and housingcrises and to mobilise others to join and supportthe coalition aims of preventing evictions on mort-gaged arrears property, the introduction of rent

control and security of tenure, the opening of“void” properties, to prevent to transfer or sale ofpublic lands to private developers and a largescale programme of construction of public hous-ing.

The first action of the Coalition was a demonstra-tion to make the one year anniversary ofJohnathon Corry who died in a doorway onMolesworth Street in Dublin. Several publicdemonstrations have taken place since then, or-ganised by the Coalition to keep the issue in thepublic eye with the most recent being the MayDay march which was themed around the housingcrisis and the solutions developed by the Coali-tion.

During 2016 the Coalition made this issue an elec-tion issue and actively lobbied politicians for sup-port. In June 2016 the Coalition formally met withthe Cross Party Oireachtas Committee on housingand homelessness to seek to influence the Govern-ments Rebuilding Ireland Plan.

In late 2016 and early 2017 SIPTU, Impact, Unite,Mandate and the CWU ran a separate social mediacampaign with the social media campaign groupUplift to influence Government policy the rentalstrategy. The objectives of the campaign were toregulate rents, to prevent evections for the pur-pose of sale and to create indefinite leases. Thisresulted in the introduction of rent pressure zonesby the Government.

The Coalition continues to grow and is activelylobbying for a local authority led public housingbuilding housing programme for affordablehomes.

The Irish Congress of Trade Unions has alsoadopted a policy strategy called “A Local Author-ity Led Response to the Housing Crisis” which out-lines the need to provide 10,000 social housingunits on an annual basis by late 2018/early 2019.The document also makes the very strong case forsocial housing provision by local authorities andsets out proposals for local authorities to work to-gether to implement a major social and affordablehousing and construction programme on publiclands. The policy clearly outlines how such a socialand affordable housing programme could befunded, its treatment under EU accounting rules,and examines the scale of current spending onquasi-social housing. The Congress housing com-mittee have commenced and active nationwidepolitical lobby on this issue.


(31) PRSI Rates

‘That this Conference calls on the NEC to initiate acampaign for the graduation of PRSI payment, in-stead of the current cut off point of €352 and then4% after that.’

Submitted by the Electronics Engineering & IndustrialProduction Sector

Progress to date

What was sought by this motion has not been in-troduced, but Budget 2016 (i.e. announced in Oc-tober 2015) made changes that reduced PRSI forlow-paid workers (i.e. earning between €352 and€424 a week). Budget 2016 estimated that thischange would reduce the amount of PRSI payablefor someone on €20,000 by €341 a year.

The credit amounts to a maximum of €12 a week.It starts at income of €352.01 per week, taperingout at a rate of one-sixth of income in excess ofthis and fully tapering out as income reaches €424a week.

There were no further changes announced to thisin Budget 2017.

(32) State Pension Age

‘Conference calls on the National Executive Coun-cil to launch a campaign to reverse the recent in-crease in State Pension age to 66 , with furtherincreases to age 68 also already scheduled. Thiscampaign should also tackle the issue of genderequality with regard to pension’s provision and en-titlement.’

Submitted by the Limerick District Council

Progress to date

Immediately following BDC 2015 the then Ministerfor Public Expenditure and Reform, BrendanHowlin TD established an Interdepartmental Com-mittee to bring forward proposals with a view toremedying these issues.

A new Government took office in May 2016 follow-ing the General Election in February. The LabourParty was no longer in the Government.

The “Interdepartmental Group on Fuller WorkingLives” (which was not the original title of the Com-mittee) reported in August 2016. Instead of ad-dressing the issue and insofar as it said anythingat all, the recommendations would serve only toworsen the situation for older workers and theirfamilies.

We castigated it publicly describing it as useless

exercise in “window dressing”. Despite repeatedlobbying through the Irish Congress of Tradeunions, we have been unable to shift the Govern-ment’s position.

Composite Motion (iii) Standing Orders ReportNo. 2 - To replace Motions 33, 34, 35 and 36 -State Pension Age

‘Conference calls on the National Executive Coun-cil to immediately engage in discussions with thegovernment, with a view to ameliorating the im-pact of the raising of the State Pension Age formembers who will retire before they are eligibleto receive their State Pension’.

‘Conference notes the following:

The State Transitional Pension, previously availableat age 65, was removed in January 2014 effectivelyforcing workers to seek one years extra employ-ment from their employer or existing for one yearwithout income or living off any savings they mayhave accrued over their working lives. Many of ourmembers, especially those who do not have an oc-cupational pension scheme, are effectively beingleft in limbo regarding retirement and qualificationfor the State Pension to which they have paid intoall of their working lives’.

‘The discussions with government should focus onworkers having a right, on voluntary application,to the extension and continuation of their employ-ment beyond existing custom and practice and/ortheir current contractual retirement date of age 65in order to realign workers retirement age withthat of the State Pension Age.’

Submitted by the: The Kildare District Council, The Avi-ation Sector - Utilities & Construction Division, The AgriIngredients Food and Drink Sector – Manufacturing Di-vision, The Public Admin & Community DivisionalCommittee.

Progress to date

As outlined in relation to Motion 32.

Composite Motion No. (iv) Standing Orders Re-port No. 2 – to replace Motions 37 and 38 - PublicHealth Service

‘Conference calls on the National Executive Coun-cil to support a campaign which highlights theneed to tackle spiralling waiting lists within ourPublic Health Service and draws attention to theimportance of ensuring access to a Public HealthService that is free at the point of use. We are en-titled to a Health Service that delivers on PrimaryCare, Universal Hospital Care, Care of Older Peo-


ple, Community Care, Integrated Care and MentalHealth. The State has an obligation to providehealthcare to those who need it. The campaignshould recognise that many PRSI citizens in Irelanddo not have the option of private medical care,they simple cannot afford it. The Health Serviceshould allow workers and citizens the basic humanright of access to healthcare to those who need itmost, rather than can pay most.’

Submitted by: The Nurse & Midwife Sector- Health Di-vision, The Allied Health Professionals Sector - HealthDivision

Progress to date

Representations to Government directly andthrough the ICTU, various Pre-Budget submissionsand public statements.

(39) Healthcare

‘Conference, notes that as part of its Secure Re-tirement Campaign the National Retired MembersSection campaigns to bring about a society inwhich, after a lifetime of work, union memberswould be in a position to look forward to their re-tirement from paid work. However, conferencenotes that increasingly workers above a certainage are facing the prospect of approaching retire-ment with fear and anxiety given the sudden dropin expected income and the uncertainty about fu-ture living costs and public services, particularlyhealthcare and elder care. Conference notes thatretired and older people are particularly depend-ent on the health service. The severe, unprece-dented and unsustainable contraction of thepublic health service due to successive years of fi-nancial cutbacks along with the long term harmdone by the implementation of a recruitmentmoratorium has had a disproportionate impact onolder people. Conference calls on the National Ex-ecutive Council to mount a campaign in defenseof the country’s public health service, designed toensure: a) the provision of safe and accessible careto retired and older people in hospitals, nursinghomes and other health settings as well as in thecommunity and in the private home b) the protec-tion of good quality direct employment in thehealth service; c) the unionisation of healthcareworkers and d) awareness among the generalpublic of the essential social good arising from ac-cess, for all citizens, to a quality assured publichealth service.’

Submitted by the Retired Members’ Committee

Progress to date

As outlined in relation to Composite No. (iv)

(40) National Ambulance Service Capacity Review

‘That This Conference calls on National ExecutiveCouncil to insist that the Department of Healthprovide the necessary funding as required for theimplementation of the findings of the National Am-bulance Service CAPACITY REVIEW.’

Submitted by the National Ambulance Sector, Health Division As (23)

Progress to date

The union, on behalf of the National ExecutiveCouncil, continues to work with the Divisions indemanding implementation of the findings of theNational Service Capacity Review. It is recognisedthat for this to be achieved, serious investment isrequired by the relevant government depart-ments.

A dispute was sanctioned and significant progresswas made in the area of staffing and added fleetand technology.

(41) Universal Social Charge

‘This Conference calls on the National ExecutiveCouncil to campaign for the abolition of UniversalSocial Charge for low and middle income HealthWorkers so as to enable them to be financially in-dependent in order to allow for themselves andtheir families to participate in their local economythereby supporting and creating local employ-ment opportunities for workers in the private sec-tor.’

Submitted by the Health Divisional Committee

Progress to date

SIPTU has developed the concept of a “Social Solidarity Charge”.

(42) Disability Benefit

‘That this conference calls on the NEC to initiate acampaign to reverse the government’s budgetarychanges to Disability Benefits where claimants re-ceive payment after the 6th days of illness.’

Submitted by the Cavan/Monaghan District Council


Progress to date

Representations through ICTU.

(43) Funding for the Community and VoluntarySector

‘That this conference calls on the National Execu-tive Council to lobby Government seeking an increase in funding for the Community and Volun-tary Sector.’

Submitted by the Community Sector, Public Admin. &Community Division

Progress to date

The Government sought submissions on the issueof Commissions in the Community Sector. SIPTUwas the only union which responded. To give ef-fect to these motions (Nos. 43 & 44) the unions’work in the Community Sector needs to be con-sidered together.

(44) Privatisation in the Community Sector

‘Conference calls on the General Officers and theNational Executive Council to develop the buildingof a campaign against the privatisation of theCommunity Sector and the consequential ‘race tothe bottom’ in terms of pay and conditions of em-ployment that will affect workers in this Sector.’

Submitted by the Public Admin. & Community Divisional Committee

Progress to date

The office of the Vice President, on behalf of theNEC, is liaising with the relevant divisions and sec-tors in endeavouring to highlight the issue of pri-vatisation in this Sector. A campaign regardingfunding, privatisation and respect for workers isongoing. The Community Sector Committee haverecently established a sub-committee for the pur-pose of developing a political and, where possible,industrial campaign on this issue. The lack ofprogress on the Community Forum has not as-sisted the efforts of our members. Meetings havebeen sought with the DJSP and DHPCLG on thisissue also.

(45) Whitegate Refinery

'That conference calls upon the NEC of the unionto immediately commence an intensive lobbyingcampaign to secure the future of Phillips 66 oil re-finery Whitegate, Co Cork in its current capacitygiven it's critical importance to the national and

local economy as Ireland's only oil refinery.’

Submitted by the Energy Sector – Utilities & Construc-tion Division

Progress to date

Following the conference a vigorous campaignwas conducted by SIPTU and the other unions onsite, namely TEEU and Unite to ensure that the OilRefinery remained open.

The Oil Refinery was sold in September 2016 to aCanadian owned firm called Irving Oil. This shouldsecure the long-term future of the Oil Refinery.

Composite Motion (v) Standing Orders ReportNo. 2 – to replace Motions 46 and 47

Privatisation in Public Transport

‘Conference notes with concern the recent indus-trial action that members had to pursue to protectconditions of employment due to the Governmentled policy of privatising Public Transport Services.The transfer of provision of these services from thesemi-state sector to private profiteers is not ac-ceptable and will lead to a dramatic lowering ofconditions of employment for workers providingthese services. The public service obligation ofproviding public transport should continue to bevested in state owned companies as to do other-wise will leave a legacy of inadequate transportfor the most vulnerable in society and conditionsof employment at minimal levels been set in thisindustry, Hence conference calls on the NationalExecutive Council to lead and maintain a vigorousindustrial and political campaign of opposition tofurther privatisation of public transport and op-poses any cuts in services or benefits that wouldhave an adverse effect on retired and older peo-ples’ quality of life and living standards.’

Submitted by: The Transport Sector – Utilities & Con-struction Division, The Retired Members’ Committee.

Progress to date

We have “led and maintained a vigorous industrialand political campaign of opposition to further pri-vatisation of public transport and opposes anycuts in services or benefits that would have an ad-verse effect on retired and older peoples’ qualityof life and living standards” by way of our engage-ment and submission on February 10th 2017 to theOireachtas Joint Committee on Transport Tourismand Sport

Correspondence has been exchanged betweenour TEAC Division and the relevant Minister and itis expected that legislation will be brought for-ward later this year on the protection for existing


‘Direct Award Services’ by way of Public Trans-port.

Our members in Bus Eireann have taken 21 days ofStrike Action from late March through to April 13thculminating in the Labour Recommendation(LCR21438) which was accepted. This LabourCourt recommendation addressed many issues in-cluding pay, shift pay, hours of work, income con-tinuance, etc. and in the context of this compositemotion recommended the establishment of a‘Stakeholders Forum’ “to work towards address-ing the challenges facing Bus Eireann and PublicTransport generally”

This has resulted in an initial recent meeting withMinister Ross, wherein SIPTU through the TEAC Di-vision made a submission on Public Transport andthe need to adequately fund and preserve sameThe Stakeholders Forum will hold its first meetingin October 2017.

Also it is worth nothing that SIPTU in furtheranceof this composite motion/policy was the onlyTrade union in the Transport Sector who ballotedDublin Bus and Irish Rail for Industrial Action in sol-idarity with its Bus Eireann members and achieveda strong mandate to enact same, should it havebeen necessary to do so.

(48) Representation on Hospital Boards of Management

‘That this conference calls on the National Execu-tive Council to insist that the Government enactlegislation guaranteeing the right of workers torepresentation on Boards of Management with fullvoting rights and access to all information. This isnecessary because of the blatant breach of publicpay policy by several publicly funded Hospitalsand Organisations through the application of “TOPUP” payments to senior executives.’

Submitted by the Support Sector, Health Division

Progress to date

Wrote to relevant Government Minister in line withthis motion.

Further communication as of yet has not elicited aresponse.

Composite Motion (vi) Standing Orders ReportNo 2 – to replace Motions 49 and 50TTIP/CETA

‘Conference calls on the National Executive Coun-cil to support a campaign which will highlight thedangers for all workers associated with TTIP/CETA

and to publicly engage with all political partiesand MEPs to ensure that TTIP does not realise theaims of those sponsoring this attempt to exploitpublic services to make a profit and thus renderpublic policy redundant’.

‘This campaign should also seek to collaboratewith other unions throughout Europe to impressthe need for solidarity through our opposition ofTTIP and to make certain that trade unions edu-cate our members and wider society of its dangersfor working people.’

Submitted by: The Allied Health Professionals Sector –Health Division, The Health Divisional Committee

Progress to date

The National Executive Council adopted a detailedpolicy position in June 2015 which runs to 30pages of text.

Basically it called for the suspension of all negoti-ations on TTIP pending satisfactory resolution of arange of issues on employment rights, public serv-ices and environmental considerations. Since thenthe union has continued to participate fully in thepromotion of this policy through the Irish Con-gress of Trade unions and in the InternationalTrade union Movement.

(51) Undocumented Migrant Workers

‘Conference notes that there are an estimated20,000 to 26,000 undocumented migrants in Ire-land; many of whom are living in the shadowsunder tremendous stress and fear of deportation.The majority of them are working in the most pre-carious sectors of the economy where they areopen to exploitation due to their vulnerable cir-cumstances. This exploitation by rogue employersundermines the established wages and conditionsof other workers in these sectors’.

‘The majority of undocumented workers are resi-dent in Ireland for over five years. It is time thattheir position as is regularised both to protect thehuman rights of these workers and to prevent fur-ther erosion of conditions for all workers em-ployed in the precarious sectors’.

‘Conference calls on the National Executive Coun-cil to support the active participation of SIPTU ina broad-based campaign aimed at convincingGovernment to introduce a once-off, time-boundregularisation scheme, with transparent and faircriteria, to encourage these workers out of theshadows and to enable them to enjoy the rightsand protections secured for workers in Ireland.’

Submitted by the Equality Committee


Progress to date

• SIPTU ran a letter writing campaign in 2015 tothe then Minister for Justice and Equality, Ms.Frances Fitzgerald T.D. union members were en-couraged to write to the Minister setting out whythey supported a regularisation scheme for undoc-umented workers, children and adolescents.

• A sample campaign letter appeared in the No-vember/December 2015 edition of Liberty news-paper as part of a 2-page pull-out feature entitled“Why Justice for Undocumented Workers BenefitsAll”. The article set out for readers why SIPTU sup-ports a regularisation scheme for the estimated25,000 undocumented people in Ireland and fea-tured profiles of three undocumented workerswho worked in the security, cleaning, restaurantand care industries.

• The union participated in the Undocumented inIreland: the moral and economic rationale for reg-ularisation conference held in Trinity CollegeDublin in May 2016.

• SIPTU hosted a private meeting between Pres-ident of Ireland Michael D. Higgins and represen-tatives of the Justice for Undocumentedcampaign, the Young Paperless and Powerful cam-paign and the Migrant Rights Centre Ireland in Lib-erty Hall in December 2016. The meetingcoincided with the launch of the “A Thousand Rea-sons, One Wish” art exhibition in the Liberty Hallauditorium. The exhibition, which was formallylaunched by SIPTU General Secretary Joe O’Flynnand artists Robert Ballagh and Jim Fitzpatrick, wasopen to supporters of the campaign and the gen-eral public.

• SIPTU Digital produced a short film featuringundocumented workers and young people in sup-port of the Justice for Undocumented campaign’scall for a regularisation scheme to allow undocu-mented migrants the chance to come forward andregularise their situation. The film was circulatedvia the union’s various online media channels andwidely viewed.

Composite Motion (vii) Standing Orders ReportNo. 2 – to replace Motions 52 and 53

1916 Centenary and Palestine

‘Conference respects the contrary perceptions ofthe 1916 Insurrection as between the different tra-ditions on the island of Ireland. However, Confer-ence deplores the abject failure to realise theegalitarian aspirations of the Proclamation in eitherof the jurisdictions which emerged after the“decade of rebellion’.

‘We hold that this is primarily attributable to thedominance of a value system, which reflects theinterests of Capital and the wealthy in all aspectsof public policy formation since 1922. Prioritisationof private affluence over the interests of the com-mon good has resulted in the perverse incentivi-sation of speculation to the detriment ofinnovation and the consequent failure to developsustainable indigenous economies. This is mostmanifestly evident in the fact that uniquely in all ofEurope the population is lower now than it was in1840’.

‘Therefore Conference resolves that as a custodianof the values of social solidarity, the union mustfocus energetically on asserting the primacy of thecommon good, as the platform for all public policydevelopment, towards the objective of the attain-ment of an egalitarian society in which all the pub-lic services necessary for the pursuit of a full, freeand happy life are available equally to all, free atthe point of use, underpinned by a dynamicallysustainable economy and fair taxation’.

‘In this regard Conference resolves that the unionwill participate fully in the Commemoration ofevents of Easter Week 1916, with particular em-phasis on the role of the Irish Citizen Army andTrade unionists generally and towards the objec-tive of renewing the values for which they stood’.

‘That this conference believes that it would be ap-propriate in the commemoration of the centenaryof the 1916 rebellion that 2016 would be desig-nated the year of the liberation of Palestine. ThePalestinian people’s right to statehood is an in-alienable right. Conference calls upon the NEC toformulate a campaign, in cooperation with thetrade union movement and all progressive, civicand political groups in Ireland and internationally,to make 2016 the year for the creation of a Pales-tinian state.’

Submitted by: The National Executive Council, TheEquality Committee.

Progress to date

In response to the motion on the centenary of theEaster Rising:

SIPTU organised a series of events to commemo-rate the role of union members, the Irish CitizenArmy and then acting General Secretary, JamesConnolly in the 1916 Rising. Before the Easter com-memorations commenced a wrap depictingscenes and leaders of the Rising was drapedaround the three sides of Liberty Hall and re-mained in place until the Autumn of 1916. It wasthe largest image of the Rising anywhere in thecountry during the commemoration year.


Between March and May 2016, a series of majorevents took place in Liberty Hall Theatre and included:

Easter Saturday 26th March – Gala Centenary Concert attended by President Michael D Higginswith performances by Christy Moore, DamienDempsey, Paula Meehan, Matt Molloy and others.

Easter Monday 28th March – Recollections of therole of the ICA, the printing of the Proclamation inLiberty Hall, the Women and Children of the Risingand the Flags of the Rising along with songs andimages.

Easter Tuesday 29th March – State commemora-tion of the role of the Irish Citizen Army includingwreath laying by President Higgins at the statueof James Connolly, Beresford Place, and the un-veiling of a plaque in Liberty Hall listing all men,women and young people registered as mem-bers of the ICA in 1916. This was followed by amajor speech by the President and contributionsfrom relatives of those who fought with the ICAduring the Rising.

Wednesday 30th March – ‘Take Down the Horse-man’ by Eugene McCabe - Performed by DublinLyric Players

Thursday 31st March – Women and Work – Photo-graphic exhibition and debate

Friday 1st April - Glórtha: Traditional Irish musicwith Liam O Maonlai, Theo Dorgan, Lynched,

12th May – Commemorating the centenary of theexecution of James Connolly. Attended by Presi-dent Michael D Higgins with performances by EddiReader, Karan Casey Niall Vallely Niamh Parsonsand more.

During the year 12 plaques were unveiled in vari-ous locations around the city where members ofthe Irish Citizen Army lived and fought during 1916.Organised in co-operation with the Dublin DistrictCouncil of SIPTU and local community historygroups.

A number of new tapestries featuring people andscenes of the 1916 Rising were completed and dis-played during the Easter commemorations.

The original Green Flag of Ireland, which wasraised by 14 year old Molly O’Brien over LibertyHall, on the instructions of James Connolly, onPalm Sunday prior to the Easter Rising and otheritems of significant historical interest taken bymembers of the British Army were loaned to SIPTU

by the Iniskillings Museum, in Enniskillen after theywere discovered and identified in early 2016 withthe assistance of the Communication WorkersUnion and staff of the GPO, in Dublin. Following itsrestoration, the Green Flag was presented to Pres-ident Higgins in a special ceremony in Aras anUachtarain on 22nd March, 2016 before it wasmoved to its original home in Liberty Hall.

Other events to commemorate the Easter Risingwere organised by SIPTU members around thecountry including in Sligo, Meath, Cork, Galwayand Belfast.

In response to the motion on Palestine:

At the SIPTU biennale Delegate Conference in2015, a keynote speech was delivered by our in-ternational guest, Dr. Mona El Farra, the projectsdirector of the Middle East Children’s Alliance tothe conference plenary in which she outlined thedeteriorating situation of the Palestinian People,especially in Gaza.

The global solidarity committee held a very suc-cessful lunchtime fringe event on SIPTU’s ‘Solidar-ity with Palestine’ campaign. It was held inConnolly Hall and attended by 83 delegates. Theevent was addressed by Dr. Mona El Farra andElaine Bradley. In conjunction with the SIPTU’s So-cial Media Officer, the committee used the oppor-tunity of the fringe event as a pilot for the use of‘Periscope TV’ in broadcasting the event live tothe public.

The flags of Palestine, Ireland and the United Na-tions flew outside Liberty Hall in Dublin on theweekend of the 27th-29th November to mark UNInternational Day of Solidarity with the PalestinianPeople. The flags were raised during a short cere-mony, at lunchtime on 27th November, attendedby the Palestinian Ambassador to Ireland, AhmadAbdelrazek, and SIPTU General President, Jack O’Connor.

SIPTU Global Solidarity Committee on behalf of theIrish Congress of Trade unions (ICTU) participatedin a lobby day on ‘Recognition of the PalestinianState’ with Trocaire, Sadaka and the EAPPI. Theevent was held in Buswells on the 14th June 2016.The Palestinian Ambassador participated in thelobby with the four organisations. SIPTU in collab-oration with the ICTU Global Solidarity Committeeworked with other solidarity organisations in thefollow-up to the lobby event.

In 2016, on the occasion of the 5th General Con-


gress of the Palestinian General Federation ofTrade unions (PGFTU), a message of solidarity wassent by the SIPTU General President.

In August 2016, the children of the Al-Helal footballclub of Gaza visited SIPTU offices in Wexford andTipperary as they toured the country playing localfootball matches. Above are the team pho-tographed at the Mansion House with Lord MayorBrendan Carr showing their support for SIPTU’s‘Stand up for Palestine’ Campaign.

The trip was covered by RTE, the Irish Times andother media outlets from the Middle East. As partof our work on Palestine, the committee continuedto support the action of Gaza Action Ireland inbringing a football team from Gaza to Ireland inthe summer of 2017.

In July 2017, a play the ‘Olive Tree’ by Katie O’Kellywas performed in Liberty Hall Theatre and hostedby SIPTU. Organised by Mags O’ Brien and GazaAction Ireland the play and a raffle on the night,raised over €3000 euros for the initiative in bring-ing the young footballers from Gaza to Ireland.

SIPTU made a donation of €500 to ‘Palfest-ArtsFestival Supporting Palestine’ which took place inJuly 2016. Some performances including by Pales-tinian poet, Rafeef Ziadah, took place in LibertyHall.

SIPTU’s Global Solidarity Committee members aresupporting the reorganisation of the Trade unionFriends of Palestine in Dublin. An initial meetingwas held in October 2016. The meeting heardfrom a guest speaker, Hamed Qawasmeh of theHebron International Resources Network (HIRN) onthe work being carried out in Hebron to supportvulnerable Palestinian communities especially sup-porting the education of girls.

Mags O’Brien of the SIPTU Global Solidarity Com-mittee participated in a European Trade unionSeminar- “Solidarity with Palestine - Ending Euro-pean complicity with Israeli violations of interna-tional law European Trade union Initiative forJustice in Palestine” on the 18-19 November 2016in Brussels. The aim of the seminar was to discussa coordinated mobilisation of the European tradeunion movement to take effective action to bringan end to Israel’s denial of Palestinian rights andgrave violations of international law. The seminarwas also attended by representatives from SIPTU,UNISON, Mandate and CPSU.

SIPTU endorsed the National demonstration forFreedom and Justice for Palestine which took

place on the 10th June 2017. Around 1500 peoplefrom all over Ireland marched in the demonstrationwhich marked the 50th anniversary of Israel’s oc-cupation and illegal colonisation of the PalestinianWest Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza. The Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC) organised theevent to convey a simple message, that ‘100 yearsof injustice and 50 years of occupation is enough!It’s time for freedom, justice and equality for thePalestinian people!’

Emergency motion to SIPTU Biennial DelegateConference Cork 6th October, 2015:

‘This Conference commends the work of SIPTUmembers at NUI Galway in seeking to combat gender discrimination and related precariousworking conditions. Conference condemns NUIGalway (NUIG) university management team for itsconsistent attempts to trivialise the concerns ofworkers and for excluding this union from meaning-ful negotiations. Conference calls on the NEC to:

1. Initiate contact with the president of NUIG insisting that the employer attends the LRC;

2. Closely monitor the situation at NUIG and ensure that local stewards are sufficiently resourced and supported.’

Submitted by The Education Sector, Public Administration & Community Division

Moved in accordance with Standing Orders Report No. 3

Progress to date

The Divisional Office is working with the Sector tosupport our members in this critical campaign. Thesubstantive issue has been lodged with the WRCat the Education Oversight Committee.

SIPTU, at General Officer level, wrote to the NUIGon this issue. The Divisional Organiser met with theNUIG Committee on two occasions to ensure thecommittee had in place the necessary supportsfrom the union’s services to assist them in theirwork – Communications, Legal Rights, Campaign-ing and Equality. Supporting the Committee in thiswork is ongoing.

Emergency Motions to SIPTU Biennial DelegateConference Cork, 8th October, 2015:

(1) ‘In light of the unilateral announcement madeby Irish Water that staffing levels be reduced by


1,200 workers over the next number of years,which is in breach of the Service Level Agreementbetween the unions and Management, Conferencereaffirms the support outlined by the General Pres-ident to fully support our members in Irish Water.Furthermore, we are calling on Conference to sup-port our members in the Local Authorities in theircampaign for the retention of the provision ofwater services within the Public Service’.

‘The unilateral announcement made by Irish Waterof the reduction in water service worker numbersis not only a breach of the collective agreementsbetween management and unions, but is also thecommencement of a process to privatise the pro-vision of water services in Ireland by first reducingthen removing public sector workers from the de-livery of this essential public service’.

‘Furthermore, in line with the union's ongoingcampaign, Conference is again calling for the po-litical parties to give a commitment ahead of theforthcoming General Election for a Referendumseeking to prohibit the privatisation of the provi-sion of Ireland's water services.’

Submitted by the Local Authority Sector

Progress to date

SIPTU was the first Trade union in Ireland to call fora referendum to amend the Constitution to pro-hibit the privatisation of the public water supply.It was also SIPTU that proposed that this shouldbecome the policy of the Irish Congress of Tradeunions, which was duly endorsed unanimously bythe Executive Council of that Body in 19th Novem-ber 2014.

The Local Authority Sector, supported by the Di-vision and the Campaigns and Community Depart-ments, lobbied all political parties and all TDsseeking their support for a constitutional referen-dum to enshrine the provision of water services inpublic ownership, so as to offset the risk of privati-sation. The Labour Party published a Bill providingfor the Referendum.

A Bill was also introduced on the floor of theOireachtas by independent TD Joan Collins. In in-troducing it, she acknowledged the lobbying cam-paign by the union’s activists.

The Government established a Commission onIrish Water chaired by Kevin Duffy. SIPTU hasmade submissions to the Commission, both di-rectly and as part of an ICTU delegation. The Com-mission Report supported the concept ofconstitutional change.

SIPTU also supported the members in the takingof a ballot vote for industrial and strike action toresist the moves by this employer to make 1,200workers compulsorily redundant. This ballot led toan intervention by the WRC and engagement re-sulted in a Comprehensive Agreement that offsetthe proposed compulsory redundancies. The WRCAgreement also provided for a minimum of 95%permanent water service posts, as well as commit-ments of no displacement of permanent posts bycontractors.

Arising from the Agreement, a number of furtherengagements became necessary on the regulari-sation of posts and the Find & Fix project. Both ofthese initiatives resulted in greater permanentpublic service employment opportunities in thedelivery of the service.


Membership &

Organisation

Introduction

The Annual Reports onSIPTU’s activities during 2015and 2016 can provide only asummary of key events in thework and development of theunion. While the Reports en-deavour to provide as muchinformation as practicable, itwould not be possible to pro-vide a comprehensive reporton all the activities under-

taken by the union’s members, voluntary repre-sentatives and staff during the period. Readersseeking more detailed information are invited toconsult the reports of the Sections, Sectors or theDivisions concerned.

The work undertaken by the union during 2015and 2016 and its many achievements in protectingand advancing the interests of its members andtheir families was made possible by the individualcommitment and collective voluntary participa-tion of very many members of the union. Centralto all of this was the day-to-day involvement of theunion’s Shop Stewards, Section Committee Mem-bers and Activists in all areas of the union’s organ-isation who, with the support of the union’s staff,steered the union through a challenging period inthe economic and social history of the island of Ire-land and through the internal organisational re-structuring of the union. While individualcontributions are rarely itemised in these reports,they are nevertheless vital to the achievements ofthe union and are very much appreciated.

Membership The financial membership of the union at the endof 2015 was 150,032 and 151,538 at the end 2016.The increase in financial membership in 2016 wasthe first since 2007. It was due to the organisinginitiatives undertaken by individual sectors, andthe work of the Strategic Organising Department.

Financial Membership by Division at the end of 2015Health 38,697

Manufacturing 33,068

Public Administration and Community 29,407

Services 29,071

Transport, Energy, Aviation and Construction19,789

Financial Membership by Division at the end of 2016 Health 39,798

Manufacturing 33,614

Public Administration and Community 28,593

Services 28,370

Transport, Energy, Aviation and Construction21,163

Summary Overview of union Finances 2015 and 2016Contributions from members in 2016 was€32,068,939 compared with €31,647,001 in 2015.Expenditure in 2016 was €32,975,149 comparedwith €33,481,203 in 2015. The co-operation of theactivists and staff in maintaining the financial re-sources of the union for use in defending the in-terests of the members from attacks on their payand conditions is acknowledged and appreciated.

The fixed assets in the Consolidated Balance SheetRevenue Account for the year ended 31st Decem-ber 2016 were €14,475,233 compared with€14,834,545 in 2015. These assets are deployed atvarious locations throughout Ireland and are usedfor the direct benefit of the members. When cur-rent assets and current liabilities are accountedfor, the net assets at the end of 2016 were valuedat €44,684,339. The financial accounts for each ofthe two years reflect the attention paid by the Na-tional Trustees, the National Executive Council and

SIPTU General SecretaryJoe O’Flynn


the National Executive Officers to the financialmanagement of the union on behalf of the union’smembers. The accounts also reflect the commit-ment and contribution of the Shop Stewards, activists and staff to ensuring that the organisingand representation work of the union was under-taken as cost effectively as possible at every levelin the union.

The audited accounts of the union for the periodunder review are set out in Appendix No. 1.

StaffDuring 2015 and 2016 the union continued to de-ploy staff throughout the organisation as requiredto organise and support members. The commit-ment of the staff and their continued cooperationduring this time is acknowledged with the full ap-preciation of the union.

Staff Numbers and GradesThe number of staff and grades at the end of eachyear was as follows:

Grade 31/12/2015 31/12/2016

General Officers 3 3

Divisional Organisers/Departmental Heads 12 12

Sector Organisers 24 28

Industrial Organisers/

Tutors/Researchers/

Industrial Engineers/

Lead Organisers/IT 45 39

Assistant Industrial Organisers/Organisers 99 105

PA 7 7

Location Based Organisers 9 6

Administrative/Clerical Staff 91 90

Porters 9 8

Total 299 298

Staff RecruitmentA number of recruitment competitions were heldduring 2015 and 2016. Applications were invitedfrom which panels for positions of Divisional Or-ganiser, Sectoral Organiser and Industrial Organ-iser were to be filled. A number of othercompetitions, including Head of SIPTU Collegeand Campaigns and Equality Organiser were alsoheld.

Staff DevelopmentTraining and Development for staff continued dur-ing 2015 and 2016. The development of new tech-nology was supported by on-going training andfamiliarisation with the data and process require-ments of the new systems.

Staff continued to update and enhance their com-petencies and the National Executive Councilmaintained the education grants scheme to sup-port staff in externally accredited courses consis-tent with the needs of the union and the personaldevelopment of the staff. This included supportingstaff in pursuing a range of legal qualifications. Asa result, the union now has five members of staffwho are qualified as Barristers while the majorityof advocates now hold a third level qualification inemployment law.

Staff who participate in external courses in theirown time are to be commended and are acknowl-edged with thanks by the union.


The Workers’ Rights Centre advises and repre-sents individual SIPTU members when they en-counter workplace problems. It was a product ofthe re-structuring process within the union andcommenced operating in September 2010. Theconcentration of individual representation in aspecialist department allows the five SIPTU Divi-sions to concentrate on their primary task of Col-lective Bargaining and Organising. The Centrecomes under the control of the Legal Rights Unit.

The centre has a supervisor based in Dublin and 24advocates based in Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway,Sligo, Waterford, Kilkenny, Castlebar, Mullingar,and Letterkenny, with responsibility for the wholeisland of Ireland. These advocates represent mem-bers at local enterprise level as well as at hearingsin the various employment rights adjudication andappeal bodies.

The centre has 10 Information Assistants con-nected through an integrated communicationssystem. Information Assistants act as a first contactproviding information on a wide range of issues tomembers. They log queries and grievances on theWorkers’ Rights tracking system and provide a va-riety of supports to advocates in their representa-tional work.

ActivityFrom its inception in September 2010 to the endof 2016, just over 25,155 cases were logged onthe Centre’s system. Some of these cases wereresolved through advice over the phone, andothers were resolved at the enterprise/employ-ment level. Cases that could not be resolved atlocal level were referred to a third party for adju-dication.

Activity IndexIn 2016 a more efficient case filtering system wasput in place whereby a greater emphasis was puton shop steward participation in early resolutionof cases at the level of local enterprises/organi-sations. This initiative not alone led to greater

empowerment of union representatives at locallevel but saw a welcome fall in cases referred tothe contentious and divisive third part stage. Inthe Calendar years January 2015 to December2016 the figures for activity representing members and compensation recovered were as follows:1

2015 2016Meetings/Consultations attended by Advocates 6127 5465

Third Party Hearings 1036 846

Total Value of Settlements/Compensatory Awards for members. €5.23m €4.75m

Education and TrainingGiven the nature of the Workers Rights Centre op-eration and the responsibility attached to protect-ing members’ rights and livelihoods, it isimperative that there is a consistent process ofquality training and education.

On-going training for advocates includes amonthly audio conference where log-in or atten-dance in person is mandatory. This is broadcastfrom Liberty Hall on a given day each month andPowerPoint presentations are sent out beforehandto participants. Active discussion is centred on de-velopments in employment law and the forum alsoallows advocates to give feedback on experiencesat Tribunals and other employment law bodies.Developments in employment law, which happenat least on a weekly basis, are communicated fromthe Legal Rights Unit to the Centre’s staff. Therewere also monthly meetings with Information As-sistants, and bi-monthly training sessions and up-dates.

Most of the Advocates in the Workers Rights Cen-tre have a legal qualification. In 2016 two advo-cates were called to the Bar, which brings thetotal of qualified barristers within the Workers

Workers Rights Centre


Rights Centre and the Legal Rights Unit to five.This is not a move towards creating a more le-galised environment within SIPTU. Instead, it is toensure that SIPTU members are ensured the bestquality advice and representation when they en-counter problems at work. This goes some way to-wards balancing the scales on the fundamentalissue of ‘inequality in arms’ at hearings, whenworkers face well resourced, ‘lawyered up’ em-ployers.

Welcome CentresA decision was made by the NEC in early 2016 toexpand the role of the Workers Rights Centre frombeing solely an in-house servicing unit, to becom-ing a cutting edge organising tool that will help toreinvigorate the union as a strong presence in thecommunity. The emphasis was on opening Wel-come Centres in local SIPTU offices that recon-nected with members. Such an initiative wouldrevitalise the role of the union office as a “go to”place for members and other workers seeking ini-tial advice on workplace problems.

These Centres give a localised contact point forSIPTU members and cater for potential memberswho may be experiencing difficulties at work. Ad-vice is given in a friendly, empathetic environmentand, if needed, SIPTU’s expert Advocates can refercases for members on to the Workplace RelationsCommission and the Labour Court if necessary.

As 2016 was an important year in the history of theunion, being the 100th anniversary of the 1916 ris-ing, the launch of the first Centre in Dublin was on19th, May, 2016, the week that marked the cente-nary of the anniversary of the execution of JamesConnolly. Cork’s Centre opened on 2nd August,Navan’s opened on 15th November and Tralee on9th December 2016. The programme of openingWorkers Rights Welcome Centres will continue in2017 as suitable SIPTU offices are identified.

Each Centre has been launched in conjunctionwith the SIPTU District Councils, with the Chair ofeach Council giving the opening address. TheCentres, along with the District Councils, have theshared mission of prioritising the relationships be-tween local communities and the union.

Centres are staffed by Advocates, Organisers andInformation Assistants. Each Centre has had thelocal telephone number re-instated, which hasproved extremely popular amongst members, aswell as having access to the central 1890 number.Details of each of the Centres are given below andcan be found at www.workersrightscentre.ie

The Centres work closely with the Divisions andthe Organising Department, as well as the otherdepartments in SIPTU, to provide the best possibleservice to workers accessing the Centres.

Since opening in 2016 the combined total footfallof all Centres to the year end of 2016 is approxi-mately 514, with the combined total of new mem-bers of 253.

While SIPTU’s Workers Rights Centre has ordinar-ily been accessed by telephone, through the rele-vant official and online for members, we are nowgetting back on the High Street where our empa-thetic, expert and confidential advice and repre-sentational service for members and potentialmembers will be properly showcased.

Cork Welcome Centre, Connolly Hall, Lapps Quay, CorkTel: 021 4277466

Dublin Welcome Centre, Beside Liberty Hall, Eden Quay, Dublin 1Tel: 1890 747881

Navan Welcome Centre, Dan Shaw Road, Navan, Co. MeathTel: 046 9023437

Tralee Welcome Centre,Connolly Hall, Upper Rock Street, Tel: 066 7121244

The Legal Rights Unit is organically linked to theWorkers Rights Centre but its work and responsi-bilities go beyond giving legal advice to the Cen-tre’s Advocates in the field. It extends to adviceon Industrial Relations Law and it counsels onstrategic legal issues to Officers and Divisional andStrategic Organising Staff. The Unit provides spe-cialist legal education for staff with the coopera-tion of SIPTU College. While the Legal Rights Unit


specialises in employment and industrial relationslaw, it has expanded services to advise on com-pany law, data protection and defamation (initialexamination only in the latter area), where this im-pacts on union activity.

The Legal Rights Unit

The Legal Rights Unit does not give independentlegal advice. It gives primacy to the collective in-terests of union members. Advice will not begiven, for example, in situations where there is aconflict between an individual’s interest and a col-lective agreement, particularly where the net re-sult could have a detrimental effect on theinterests of fellow union members. All advicetherefore must be filtered through an official to en-sure that the collective interest is the overarchingconsideration.

As well as giving general advice, the unit is taskedwith giving advice in individual cases to WorkersRights Centre Advocates. The advice and supportincludes assistance in the enforcement of thirdparty determinations, company insolvencies andpension law.

The Unit in the two-year period 2015 to 2016 as-sisted in preparing cases for the High Court in de-fence of points of law applications where SIPTUmembers’ awards were at stake. The Legal RightsUnit also had a broader strategic function regard-ing legal reform and developments which may im-

pact upon working people generally. The Unit ispart of the ICTU Legal Strategy Committee andhas contributed to various campaigns for legisla-tion to re-introduce REAs and JLCs, and thestrengthening of Collective Bargaining legislationby the last Government. In 2015, there was a fun-damental reform of the Employment Rights bodieswith the EAT, the Equality Tribunal and the old LRCphased out to be replaced by the Workplace Re-lations Commission. This created one agency witha single adjudicator arrangement, including an ap-peal to be heard in public by the Labour Court.The Unit was active in ensuring that SIPTU staffadapted efficiently to this new reality.

In the sphere of Industrial Relations, the Unit as-sists in the drafting of ballot papers, advises on theconduct of disputes and gives support in injunc-tion cases, and the running of collective bargain-ing cases.

The Legal Rights Unit has given many presenta-tions on employment law, not alone to SIPTU staffand activists but externally; for example, to non-union members in various third level institutions aspart of the organising mission. The Unit also draftsregular legal commentary and updates for the Lib-erty newspaper


SIPTU College

SIPTU College continued to offer a range ofcourses to the members, activists and staff of theunion during 2015 and 2016. The most popularcourses were the Basic and Advanced pro-grammes aimed at shop stewards. These encom-pass an introduction to the union and the role ofthe shop steward: organising; grievance and dis-ciplinary handling; negotiating skills and conduct-ing effective meetings. Sector specific issues werealso addressed, for example Trust in Care for ac-tivists and staff in the Health Services Division.Other training centred on equality issues; pen-sions; health and safety, and separate organisingtraining.

Staff available to teach on these programmes in-cluded Sylvester Cronin (Acting Head of College);Carmel Hogan (part-time); Mags O’Brien; MargaretDeCourcey and Miriam McCluskey, though formuch of the period the latter two were on second-ment to the Legal Rights’ Unit and the EducationSector respectively. In addition, Mags O’Brien re-tired on 4th November 2016.

Trade union Studies Certificate ProgrammeSome of the above SIPTU College courses are ac-credited to QQI Level 5: the Advanced Activists’Course and Safety Representatives’ Training.SIPTU College also offers one Level 6 accreditedprogramme leading to an NCI awarded Certificatein Trade union Studies. There are six modules inthis programme which, during 2015/2016, was of-fered in Dublin, Waterford, Cork and Limerick: -

• Collective Bargaining and Negotiations• Employment Law• Equality and Diversity• Health and Safety• Human Resource Management• Introduction to EconomicsThe above-named staff all play a role in the deliv-ery of this programme as do several voluntary tu-tors: - Seamus Buggle (IDEAS); Ray Mitchell andDenis Gormalley (Manufacturing Division); TadhgCurtis (Retired Staff). Sean Heading from the TEEUalso tutors and has specific responsibility for Lim-erick. Administrative assistance and coordinationacross all programmes is provided by Eileen Meierand Brigid Coakley.

Basic EnglishAt least one out of every four adults in Ireland hassignificant problems with reading and writing. Ap-proximately 320 students, mostly migrant mem-bers, attended the union’s English as a SecondLanguage (ESOL) and Basic English LiteracyScheme classes during the two-year period2015/2016. Several students achieved QQ1 (for-merly FETAC) level 4 certificates and many othermembers continue to benefit from ongoing atten-dance. Tom O’Brien teaches on this programme atLiberty Hall, which Jean Kennedy coordinates. Thescheme is part funded through the City of DublinEducation and Training Board for which we aregrateful.

ScholarshipsThe Education and Development (Scholarship)Support Scheme, coordinated by Jean Kennedy,continued to be as popular as ever with the mem-bership during 2015 and 2016. During 2015 theunion introduced a new annual scholarship for mi-grant members for which there has been a highdemand. In total the union awarded 20 Third Levelawards for members; 48 Gaeltacht scholarshipsand 60 Second level awards for the children ofmembers.

Educate to OrganiseAlthough originally designed, developed and de-livered by the Strategic Organising Department,Educate to Organise has been partly based atSIPTU College for some time and in late 2016 be-came an integral component of the College’s of-fering. Educate to Organise grew out of a need topoliticise ourselves, to answer some of the ques-tions we frequently ask but seldom get the chanceto debate within the union - questions about oursociety and economy; about democracy and glob-alisation; class and inequality; left and right wingpolitics and power – all with the aim of creatinginformed social activism.

A pilot project involving participants in three loca-tions (Dublin, Cork and Galway) concluded in 2015with a high approval rating and calls for its expan-sion. 2015 also saw the commencement of a verypositive programme in Cork, under the auspicesof ONE Cork, and which had 15 participants from12 of the unions active in that city. In 2016 the pro-

34

3

1

2

1. Gerry McCormack, SIPTU Manufacturing Division Organiser and Tish Gibbons, Head of SIPTU College.

2. The Educate to Organise group comprised of members of ONE Cork– Awards night – 25th April 2016.

3. A Trade Union Studies Certificate class, Waterford 2015.

35SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/201635 SIPTU • Annual Report 2013/2014

gramme commenced in several locations: - a TUFgroup in Dublin; two SIPTU Dublin groups (oneevening class and one day release); one night classversion in Galway and one day release programmein Cork.

There are three modules Educate to Organise: -

Workers in Society - This module looks at workersin society in a particular way. It looks at whereworkers are placed in society and at issues suchas class, left and right wing politics, globalisation,inequality and how these affect us all.

Workers in the Economy - As the name implies,this module explores economics from the view-point of workers, helping to reach an understand-ing of how economic decisions affect workers andtheir families.

Workers in their union - This module examines thehistory of the unequal relationship between work-ers and employers. It explores the need for andcontribution of unions to society and addressesthe potential for union renewal, with particular em-phasis on organising in Irish trade unions.

Once fully resourced, it is intended to expand thedelivery of Educate to Organise.

Safety & Health UnitOccupational Safety and Health (OSH) backup sup-port continues to be provided to Safety Represen-tatives, activists and staff by the Safety and HealthUnit at SIPTU College. This includes the provisionof information, written and oral, advice and repre-sentation. Occasionally, this may involve a work-place visit where direct advice is provided tosafety representatives and union Organisers.

2015 saw a serious development for occupationalhealth and safety at European level. The EU Com-mission has undermined existing protective legis-lation with the publication, under the duplicitoustitle of ‘Better Regulation’, of an agenda for de-regulation. Under the pretext of lightening the ad-ministrative burden on smaller enterprises, ‘BetterRegulation’ provides for fewer workplace inspec-tions and no requirement to have a written risk as-sessment for certain small employers. Theseelements are essential requirements for properOSH standards at workplace level so that lives andlimbs can be saved.

The Safety and Health Unit at SIPTU College con-tinued to work against these moves to erode ex-isting safety and health protection legislation andtook part in a campaign alongside other European

Trade unions spearheaded by the European Tradeunion Institute (ETUI). The Safety and Health Unitat SIPTU College continues to be proactive inSafety and Health with our OSH Advisor, SylvesterCronin fully participating in, inter alia, the

o Irish Congress of Trade union’s Advisory Committee on Safety and Health

o National Irish Safety Organisation (NISO).

o European union’s ‘Advisory Committee on Safety and Health’.

o European union’s ‘Occupational Safety and Health Agency’ (EU-OSHA)

Sadly, despite the efforts of trade union activists,work-related deaths, injuries and illnesses are alltoo frequent when they are all too preventable.

Industrial EngineeringIn addition to OSH advisory, SIPTU College also of-fers a comprehensive industrial engineering serv-ice to its members in the workplace. IndustrialEngineer John McCarthy has worked with shopstewards and staff in numerous workplaces acrossthe Manufacturing, Services, and Transport EnergyAviation and Construction Divisions.

From union training to labour educationIn Autumn 2016 the National Executive Counciladopted a new strategy for SIPTU College entitled“From union training to labour education”. Thisstrategy starts from a recognition that the full es-tablishment of the Workers’ College is not immi-nent and therefore it is necessary to revitaliseSIPTU College in the interim. The strategy alsorecognises that among the challenges facing theunion is the need to ensure that our approach toeducation and training is in line with the rapidlychanging environment in which learning takesplace. Crucial also is the need to ensure that theworker perspective is given a voice that can beheard against the din of neo-liberal economistsand right wing educationalists.

Equally important for the union is the need to en-sure that the type of education and training weprovide is appropriately connected to theachievement of our objectives as an organisation,particularly in the context of the challenges facedby the trade union movement over the medium tolong term. The strategy leans on the experience ofone example of where we have taken a differentapproach to education and training i.e., the Edu-cate to Organise programme. Educate to Organ-

ise, designed, developed and deliv-ered by the Strategic Organising Department, is apolitical programme which takes a worker’s per-spective on the study of society (sociology); theeconomy (political economy) and union activism(industrial relations). The success of this pro-gramme and the appetite for this approach to ed-ucation and training is a clear example thatthrough adopting an innovative approach acrossall our education and training activity, we canovercome many of the difficulties that have facedus in recent years.

Thus, our new strategy proposes 19 Recommen-dations focussing on four related areas: -

o Expanding the ‘reach’ of the College’s training and education

o Designing new programmeso A more flexible deliveryo Appointment of staff

It is envisaged that expansion of the ‘reach’ of theCollege’s training and education will involve newmeans of getting our message across such as film,social media, distance or e-learning programmes.Establishing a dedicated SIPTU College websitewith links to a learning support platform is essen-tial for such expansion. Among the new pro-grammes needed are those dedicated to bothstaff development and the development of thelabour movement. The strategy also commits tosourcing politically sound external training pro-grammes for staff, where necessary. Mindful thatSIPTU College can no longer expect to deliver allprogrammes via day-release, new part-time deliv-ery options will be examined; night classes, week-ends, etc. More novel approaches should also be

considered, for example, reading circles and ‘pop-up’ classes.

The strategy recognises that the appointment ofstaff is a necessary first step: - Learning Co-ordina-tors (in a Tutor+ role); Learning Representatives(industrial staff who will assist with training); Lec-turers (to deliver Educate to Organise) and a Headof College. The last of these has been achievedwith the appointment in November 2016 of TishGibbons, Researcher at the Strategic OrganisingDepartment, as new Head of SIPTU College. Herremit includes the implementation of this newstrategy in full and she has already commenced areview of all programmes currently delivered; anexpansion of the on-line presence of SIPTU Col-lege, and has commenced the design and devel-opment of new programmes. These will bedelivered by both existing and new staff to be ap-pointed in 2017.

In planning for the coming two-year period, Rec-ommendation No. 5 of ‘From union training tolabour education’ bears repetition: -

“Critical to the success of these proposals is a shiftin how we view education and training within theunion. It is often seen as ancillary; an add-on thatoperates separately from the ‘real’ work of theunion. It needs to be seen as an integrated part ofthe union; coordinated, resourced, consistent, andin step with the direction the union is taking”.



IDEAS appointed Sylvester Cronin as the new General Manager in 2016 with a remit for a complete restructuring of the Institute.

IDEAS supporting SIPTU policy in 2015 and 2016:The Institute for the Development of EmployeeAdvancement Services (IDEAS) is a company es-tablished by SIPTU in 2001 to provide specialisttraining, engage in Workplace Innovation and par-ticipate in relevant European union projects.

IDEAS Institute provides training to SIPTU activists,members and staff as required, with the aims ofsustaining members’ employment and union mem-bership, reducing job losses, helping to createnew jobs, enhancing activists’ and members’ skills,and promoting union organisation while also as-sisting company competitiveness.

The training programmes that IDEAS provides in-clude team-working, train-the-trainer, CV and in-terview skills, and computer training. Many ofthese training programmes are accredited by QQI.

In addition, IDEAS provides Occupational Safetyand Health (OSH) and OSH backup support toSIPTU Activists, including Safety Representatives,Shop Stewards, and staff. This includes the provi-sion of information, written and oral, advice andrepresentation. Occasionally, this may involve aworkplace visit where direct advice is provided toSafety Representatives and union Organisers. Thisis in addition to the provision of some educationaland training courses for union activists. The mainchallenge facing workplace safety and health stan-dards is unscrupulous cost cutting in the broadarea of OSH at the level of the workplace in themistaken belief by some employers that such cutswill amount to real savings. Many studies haveshown that monies spent on the prevention ofwork-related accidents, illnesses and diseasessaves multiples of the amounts spent.

One of the more serious developments in recentyears is at European level under the duplicitoustitle of ‘Better Regulation’, which is a euphemismfor De-Regulation. The European Commission set-up a ‘High Level Group of Independent Stakehold-ers on Administrative Burdens’, which producedrecommendations that included less workplace in-spection and no requirement to have a written risk

assessment for certain small employers. These el-ements are essential requirements for proper OSHstandards at workplace level so that lives andlimbs can be saved. SIPTU continues to lobbyagainst moves to erode the safety and health pro-tection legislation that already exists. Howeverdue to the very hard work of the European Tradeunions, including Irish trade unions, the worst ex-cesses of this attempted assault on Safety andHealth Regulations have been ameliorated.

Sadly, despite the efforts of trade union activists,worker-related deaths, injuries, illnesses, diseasesare all too high when they are all preventable.Without the work of very dedicated trade union-ists, statistics would be even worse.

IDEAS continues to provided practical support toSIPTU in the following areas.

Services Division:

Introduced this Division to the IDEAS ‘review’process and used this approach to establish itsstrengths and weaknesses. This process enables a360-degree perspective to be generated (‘wartsand all’). This in turn allows a realistic picture of thecurrent state-of-play to be established, and permitsagreed corrective actions for performance im-provement. It assisted the Divisional Organiser indeveloping the new Divisional Committee as afunctioning unit and continues to provide supportas it evolves.

IDEAS introduced our ‘review’ process to the Tradeunion Group (TUG) in RTE. It has conducted 8 sep-arate sessions and completed the initial review. Ad-ditional support, as required, will be given.

Manufacturing Division

Introduced our ‘review’ process to the Manufac-turing Division and it has successfully used thetechnique to identify and prioritise agreed correc-tive actions for performance improvement.

This process involved consultations with Dele-gates attending Divisional Conference, DivisionalIndustrial Staff and the Divisional Committee.

SIPTU Membership Consultative Initiative

IDEAS provided guidance and technical support to

IDEAS Institute


enable our ‘review’ process to be used for this im-portant initiative. It developed and successfullydelivered specialist training for ‘in-house’ facilita-tors to facilitate the consultative process withmembers and activists.

Workplace Innovation

We all understand and appreciate the depth ofknowledge, and the breadth of practical processexperience that every worker in all workplaces hasaccumulated over their working lives. This informa-tion has been acquired as operators set up theirmachines; watch over them as they make goodproduct; and, as the occasion demanded, sortedproduct and/or process problems as they arose.Our approach to Workplace Innovation enables thisinformation to be valued, and sought, as we allstrive to make world-class products and provideworld-class services.

This ability to improve performance and fix processproblems through genuine worker involvement isnow, at last, being universally recognised.

The mental capacity of our people to solve prob-lems and improve performance, is the key to sus-tained competitiveness. We need to maximise thepotential of our people to deliver improved produc-tivity using proven tools and techniques’. (Source:Applied Benchmarking for Competitiveness – AGuide for SME Owner/Managers Richard Keeganand Eddie O’Kelly 2004 Oak Tree Press, Cork).

Employers have realised that our unique approachto Workplace Innovation can unlock creative po-tential within the workforce and this can be a crit-ical component for companies as they drive forcontinuous improvement and on-going competi-tiveness.

We currently continue to work with existing clientcompanies as they implement Workplace Innova-tion with involvement and commitment of workersin each workplace, namely; Kirchhoff Automotive Letterkenny Theo Benning GmbH Wexford and Henkel in both of their Dublin plants (Tallaght andBallyfermot) Fleetwood in Virginia County Cavan Bord Na Móna, Derrygreenagh, and Boliden Tara Mines in Navan.

New work enquiries and early scoping work beingcarried out in; Jannsen Pharmaceuticals Arrabawn Dairies Western Chicken

European Projects

ANEETs (Apprenticeship for those Not in Employ-ment, Education or Training)

IDEAS was involved in this European Project be-tween 2014 and 2016 with three other partnersfrom France, Belgium and Catalonia to developmaterials to assist young people who have strayedfrom the normal path through school to employ-ment – this project was co-funded by the Euro-pean Programme Erasmus+.

Materials were developed for three sectors, i.e.Technology, Hospitality and Metallurgy. These ma-terials were intended to assist policy developmentand be implemented by Member States to ensurea greater participation of young people in educa-tion and employment through a wide range of dif-ferent initiatives. These policies often intervene atdifferent points along the pathway to employ-ment, which describes young people’s journeythrough formal education and their transition intothe labour market and employment. Link to theANEETs website is http://www.aneets.eu/

European Works Councils (EWCs)IDEAS was involved in a project with our Euro-pean Partners from Catalonia, Bulgaria and Italy,which was supported by the European Commis-sion.

IDEAS organised training for SIPTU IndustrialStaff, European Works Council members and Ac-tivists, during the time of the project, to becomemore knowledgeable on how EWCs can workbetter for organised workers in multi-nationaland trans-national employments.

This project led to the production of a publishedbooklet entitled Fostering Employee Involve-ment at Company Level by Training the Mainplayers dealing with the European Multinationals.


There have been developments in SIPTU’s Infor-mation, Communication and Technology infra-structure in the last two years:

The Cloud - The most significant development hasbeen a move to the ‘the cloud’ which allows forgreater security, greater access to our informationsystems and ease of use for staff. The facility tostore our information on cloud-based systemsgives us greater flexibility, it is device independ-ent, allows for a more mobile work space andgives users an automatic updates facility. It en-ables staff to work more collaboratively withgreater ease. The Microsoft cloud-based softwaresystem, Office365, installed in 2015, has allowedusers the facility to work from anywhere, has en-abled greater security, and in terms of documentmanagement and storage it has replaced the Al-fresco system with the new SharePoint cloud-based system. Further development, includingextensive training, is planned for the coming yearin order to fully utilise the facilities included in theOffice365 system. It also provides improved disas-ter recovery without the need for further capitalexpenditure.

Telephony – We continue to work with ourtelecommunications company Vodafone and haveextended the contract through to September2017.

Network Infrastructure – We have continued toimprove the network infrastructure across all loca-tions, with major upgrades in the Navan and SIPTUCollege locations. In the context of developingWelcome Centres and rebuilding our connectionwith local communities, we have commenced aprogramme of reinstating local office phone num-bers.

Network Security – We are currently in theprocess of reviewing the security of our infrastruc-ture specifically in relation to cyber security andinformation flow processes.

SIPTU Health App – the Health Division created anApp which enables them to communicate withmembers using push notifications on a weeklybasis or when required.

Information Technology


Premises

PropertyThe number of premises, including Liberty Hall, is36, of which 33 are owned by the union. During theperiod under review work has been ongoing tomaximise the use of our premises and in particularto reinstate a local presence and connection withmembers and communities. Consequently, a deci-sion was made to create Workers’ Rights Wel-come Centres in collaboration with the Workers’Rights Centre and the Strategic Organising De-partment. The first Welcome Centre was officiallyopened in Liberty Hall in May 2016 and further cen-tres have been opened in Cork, Tralee and Navanwith plans to open a further ten centres in 2017.The property stock requires constant manage-ment and maintenance, and investment in theunion’s infrastructure is undertaken in line withavailable resources. During the period under re-view maintenance and minor refurbishment workswere undertaken at a number of our premises.

Goods and ServicesThe union continued to monitor contracts andarrangements for goods and services to ensurevalue for money was achieved, while at the sametime supporting suppliers who provide decentjobs in unionised employments.

Liberty Hall ProjectFollowing the decision of An Bord Pleanala tooverturn the decision of Dublin City Council togrant planning permission, a number of optionsare being considered in terms of the refurbish-ment/redevelopment of the building. However,such works will be considered in the context ofthe other demands on the union’s finances andsupports to the members.

1916 -2016 Centenary Commemorative EventsLiberty Hall BannersDuring the period under review, a variety of ban-ners was placed on the facade of Liberty Hall. Thisincluded a three-sided banner commemoratingthe 1916 Easter Rising. The banner was placed inMarch 2016 and remained on the building until Oc-tober 2016 in line with the planning permissionthat had been granted. The banner received verypositive feedback.

State Event to commemorate the role of the Irish Citizen ArmyAs part of the National series of events to com-memorate the 1916 Easter Rising, a number ofState Events were held throughout the Countryduring 2016. One such event took place on EasterTuesday, 29th March 2016 at Liberty Hall. Theevent was attended by President Michael D. Hig-gins and his wife, Sabina, the Tánaiste, Lord Mayorof Dublin, union members and staff, members ofthe Oireachtas, representatives from national andinternational trade unions as well as members ofthe public. The event took place in Beresford Placeand the SIPTU Liberty Hall Theatre, with a wreathlaying ceremony at the James Connolly memorial,raising of the ICA flag by Molly O’Reilly’s daughter,Constance Cowley, the unveiling of a plaque list-ing all those ICA members who died in the EasterRising, as well as a commemorative event in theTheatre.

As part of the Centenary commemorations theunion also commissioned the design and produc-tion of six new tapestries. The tapestries were de-signed by Robert Ballagh and produced byvolunteers from the arts and crafts communitywho had participated in the 1913 Lockout Tapes-tries.

Other commemorative events included a projectin collaboration with the Dublin District Council toerect 12 plaques at various locations in Dublinwhere ICA members were based.


Political OverviewThe political realties in Northern Ireland have beenover shadowed by the major political earthquakerepresented by Brexit, which will have dramaticimplications for our members and their families.NI is going to be the region most affected by theUK’s exit from the EU. It is the most peripheral re-gion of the UK, both geographically and politically,and it is also the only region to share a land borderwith the EU.

As of yet we are still uncertain as to the long-termimpact of what Brexit will entail as we have no wayof determining what trading relationships will re-sult from the negotiations. This situation has beencompounded by the ongoing political crisis atStormont, which means that NI economic and po-litical interests have essentially been off the polit-ical radar.

We have worked and campaigned actively along-side NIC-ICTU to mitigate against the potentiallydamaging impact of Brexit. The three key areasthat we campaigned on were: i) Low pay/decent work ii) The lack of adequate public investment iii) The treasury cap on public sector pay.

We know that the potential for a negative impacton major sectors of the NI economy is huge. Ofparticular concern to SIPTU is the potential impacton the Wholesale and Retail sectors, which are thebiggest employers in NI, where we have substan-tial membership.

Private sector employers have already attemptedto use Brexit as an excuse to curtail wage claims. The 2016 election to the Northern Ireland Assem-bly was held on 5 May 2016. It was the fifth elec-tion to take place since the devolved assemblywas established in 1998. Turnout in the 2016 As-sembly election was (54.9%), down 15 percentagepoints from the first election to the Assembly heldin 1998. The low voter turnout, although not re-stricted to Northern Ireland, is indicative of an in-creasing lack of political differentiation between

the parties reflected in lower voter turnout. Manyvoters feel there is a lack of political choice.

Interestingly, for our movement, there is a positivecorrelation between voter turnout and trade uniondensity. Many studies showing that the greaternumber of workers represented by unions thehigher the voter turnout. Without unions, manyvoters become uninterested, uninformed and po-litically inactive. This illustrates the central role weplay in the maintenance of a healthy democraticsociety.

As in the 2007 and 2011 elections, the Democraticunionist Party and Sinn Fein won the most seats.The DUP won 38 and Sinn Fein 28 out of the 108available. The Ulster unionist Party won 16 seats,the Social Democratic and Labour Party 12 and theAlliance 8, while two seats each were won by theGreen Party and People Before Profit. The Tradi-tional unionist Voice and an independent candi-date each won one seat.

Sinn Fein and the DUP are the effective joint deci-sions makers. The political heat generated by theRenewable Heating Initiative threatens bothpower sharing and the stability of the Govern-ment. If the Assembly was to fall and direct ruleimposed NI would face a critical reduction in em-ployment rights.

Economic OverviewThe Northern Ireland economy reached an impor-tant milestone in 2016 with the number of peoplein work returning to pre-crisis level. It is testamentto the scale of the crisis that it has taken nearly adecade to achieve this position.

Wages also rose in real terms over this periodlargely due to the introduction of the National Liv-ing Wage. However, this illustrates the very largenumber of workers on low-pay within the NorthernIreland economy.

Although this is welcome news it hides underlyingstructural weaknesses exhibited by the Northern

Northern Ireland


Ireland economy with one study showing that GDPgrowth per head in Northern Ireland has flat linedsince 2009.

Consolidating the unionDue to the organisational efforts spearheaded byour activists, membership has grown over the pe-riod in question. This is despite the closure of twomajor employers, Brinks Ireland and Lakeland Diaries, as well as ongoing re-structuring in North-ern Ireland Railways. Since 2014 union member-ship has increased by 15.79% bringing currentmembership up to 2,100.

Strike ActionRiver Ridge Recycling is the leading company forwaste and bio-fuel export in Northern Ireland. Wegained recognition for this largely migrant work-force in 2015. After protracted negotiations failedour members in this employment were compelledto ballot for strike action. The result of their actionwas to secure a 9% increase for the lowest paidmembers of the workforce.

Strike action was undertaken by our members inGlen Electric, taking the form of one day stop-pages on 18th August 2017 and 1st September2016. Activists and Full-time Officials negotiated areturn to work after a satisfactory pay deal wasobtained. This consisted of a 2.76% increase fromApril 2016 with a further and 3% to be paid fromApril 2017.

DebenhamsAfter a focused organising campaign by dedicatedactivists we sought trade union recognition withthis large high street retail employer. We havemembership in the Belfast, Derry, Newry and Rush-mere stores.

RMS Cash Solutions LtdAfter a long and protracted struggle with this em-ployer over Trade union recognition we are wellplaced to secure our goal. Our members strugglein this employment has been particularly bruising,with strike action narrowly averted. It is a testa-ment to the resolve of our members that they con-tinue to struggle for recognition during this verydifficult period.

Local AuthoritiesThe process of RPA (Review of Public Administra-tion, reducing 26 District Councils to 11) continuesto present challenges to our key activists in LocalAuthorities as we address issues revolving aroundharmonisation. We are also seeking to protectmembers from potential redundancy as a processof reduction in duplication of services is carriedout across Council areas.

NIRThe public sector financial squeeze has affectedNIR, with constraints on capital spending. The re-moval of the fuel duty rebate of over £10 milliontwo years ago may result in the potential closureof rural services.

Despite this our activists secured a 2% pay increase for members, with improvements to Bereavement and Special Leave entitlements.

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OverviewNotwithstanding the distortions to the headline nationalaccounts arising from the activities of certain multination-als, the ‘real’ economy grew strongly in 2015 and 2016,with total employment rising by over 110,000, while un-employment fell from 10.2% to 6.9%. Brexit, particularlythe possibility of an extreme or ‘hard’ Brexit, emerged asa major risk to Ireland, north and south in 2016, and onethat is likely to give rise to considerable uncertainty formany years.

Distorted national accountsCentral Statistics Office (CSO) national accounts data in-dicate that real GDP in the Republic grew by 26.3% in 2015and by 5.2% in 2016. As the Nevin Economic Research In-stitute and others have pointed out, while statistically ac-curate, the headline national accounts were heavilydistorted, particularly in 2015, by the activities of certainmultinationals, and have consequently become less rele-vant as measurements of economic activity and of tradingrelationships with other countries. For example, whiletotal investment grew by more than 30% in 2015 and by70% since 2010, much of this can be explained by the ‘re-domiciliation’ of intangible assets such as patents bymultinationals, and by aircraft imports by aircraft leasingfirms based in Ireland, who now account for one quarterof all global aircraft leasings.

In December 2016, the Economic Statistics Review Group(ESRG) issued recommendations aimed at the ‘decompo-sition’ or breakdown of existing indicators and the devel-opment of new indicators to provide a betterunderstanding of underlying economic activity, so as toenable more informed analysis and policy-making. A pro-gramme of work arising from these recommendations isnow being implemented by the CSO.

Despite the distortions, domestic economic activity over2015 and 2016 was strong, driven by positive develop-ments in employment, consumption and construction.

A broad-based recovery underwayAs a small open economy, the Republic of Ireland is de-pendent on developments in its main trading partners,the UK, the US and the Euro Area. The IMF estimates thatreal GDP grew by 2.2% in 2015 and by 1.8% in 2016 in theUK, by 2.6% in 2015 and by 1.6% in the US, and by 2% in2015 and by 1.7% in 2016 in the Euro area. Ireland bene-fited over this period from the European Central Bank’s

low interest rate policy and the ‘quantitative easing’, orasset buying programme it began in March 2015.

In contrast to the early stages of Ireland’s economic re-covery, which was mainly export-led, growth since 2014has been much more broadly-based. Domestic demand(i.e. consumption and investment) expanded by 9.9% in2015 and by 16.8% in 2016. Personal consumption roseby 4.5% in 2015 and by 3% in 2016. Retail sales grew by8.6% in 2015 and by 5.9% in 2016; and the volume of re-tail sales (excluding motor trades) was back at pre-crisislevels by the end of 2016. Monthly indicators of retailsales, consumer confidence and business prospects haveall been close to or above pre-crash levels since 2014.

Employment rose but still below pre-crash levelsTotal employment (seasonally-adjusted) stood at2,160,300 in the first quarter of 2008, with constructionemployment (95% male) accounting for 258,000 or onein eight of all jobs in that quarter.

Over the following four years or so, 325,000 of all jobs, orone in seven, were lost, reducing employment to1,832,800 by the third quarter of 2012, with constructionemployment falling by almost two-thirds to 100,000.

Employment has been recovering since late 2012, stand-ing at 1,933,300 in the last quarter of 2014. It rose by afurther 111,000 in 2015 and 2016, to reach 2,044,600 bythe end of 2016. While total employment at the end of2016 was thus over 210,000 above the 2012 low point, itwas still 115,000 below the pre-crash peak. However, em-ployment outside of construction was marginally abovethe pre-crash peak by the end of 2016 (i.e. 1,904,800 inlate 2016 compared to 1,902,300 in early 2008).

The main economic sectors in terms of employment bythe end of 2016 were Wholesale and Retail (13.8% of totalemployment), Industry (12.7%) and Human Health andSocial Work activities (12.5%).

Over the 2015-2016 period, employment rose in all eco-nomic sectors bar Financial, Insurance and Real Estate ac-tivities (which saw a marginal decline of 0.3%, from102,100 to 101,900). The largest percentage increase wasin Construction, which rose by 18.9%, from 117,100 to139,200, (or to just over half pre-crash levels).

The increase in total employment (unadjusted) over this

Economic Developments

2015-16


two-year period was represented by a rise in full-time em-ployment of 7.4%, from 1,492,600 to 1,603,300, and a fallin part-time employment of 0.4%, from 446,400 to444,800. The number of under-employed part-time work-ers employed part-time, who wanted to and were able towork more hours, the majority of them women, fell by20%, from 115,500 in the last quarter of 2014 to 92,000by the end of 2016.

Occupations At the end of 2016, the three largest occupationalgroups were Professionals (18%), Skilled Trades (15.6%)and Associate Professional and Technical occupations(11.8%).

However, the largest percentage increase in occupationsover this two year period was in Caring, Leisure and otherservice occupations, up 12.4%, from 154,100 to 173,200,while the smallest increase was in Sales and CustomerService occupations, up 0.3%, from 210,400 to 211,000.

Female employment in Caring, Leisure and other serviceoccupations rose by 16% over this period. Male employ-ment in these occupations fell by 5%, while females ac-counted for 85% of all employment in these occupationsby the end of 2016.

Male employment in Process, Plant and Machine Opera-tives rose by 12.4%, while female employment in theseoccupations fell by 3%. Males accounted for 86% of allemployment in these occupations by the end of 2016.

Unemployment continued to fall The seasonally-adjusted monthly unemployment rate fellfrom 219,600 (10.2%) in December 2014 to 152,000(6.9%) in December 2016. It fell from 11.7% to 7.6% formales and from 8.4% to 6.2% for females over this period.

Long-term unemployment (i.e. those out of work for ayear or longer) fell from 123,400 (6.0%) in the fourth quar-ter of 2014 to 79,700 (3.6%) in the last quarter of 2016.

Despite the reduction in long-term unemployment overrecent years, the long-term unemployment rate at theend of 2016 was still almost three-times higher than thepre-crash average. Furthermore, the unemployment ratefor individuals out of work for more than four years hasfallen at a much slower pace than the overall unemploy-ment rate. Of the almost 40,000 workers unemployed formore than four years by the end of 2016, almost 80%were males and one-third of these were aged 50-64.

Youth unemployment (15-24 year olds) fell from 41,500(21.4%) in December 2014 to 31,200 (15.3%) in December2016. Youth unemployment fell below the EU average bylate 2016, almost halving from its 2012 peak. However,the number of young people not in employment, educa-

tion or training (so-called ‘NEETS’) remained above the EUaverage.

In the last quarter of 2014, the unemployment rate (un-adjusted) ranged from 13.2% in the Midlands (i.e. Laois,Offaly, Longford and Westmeath) to 8.5% in the Mid-East(i.e. Kildare, Meath, Wicklow). In the last quarter of 2016,it ranged from 9.4% in the South-East (i.e. Carlow,Kilkenny, south Tipperary, Waterford and Wexford) to5.3% in the Mid-East.

The numbers on ‘labour activation’ programmes such asthe Community Employment Schemes and Tús, the Com-munity Work Placement Initiative, fell by 16,600 (18.8%),from 88,400 in December 2014 to 71,800 in December2016.

Prices Prices, as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI),declined by 0.3% in 2015 and were unchanged (0%) in2016. However, there were wide variation in prices bycommodity groups. Transport declined by 4.8% in 2015and by 3.2% in 2016 (reflecting the fall in oil prices), Foodand Non-Alcoholic Beverages fell by 2.1% in 2015 and by1.3% in 2016. Clothing and Footwear fell by 3.7% in 2015and by 2.5% in 2016. At the same time, Education pricesrose by 4.75% in 2015 and by 3.4% in 2016, Restaurantsand Hotels rose by 1.6% in 2015 and by 2.1% in 2016, andMiscellaneous Goods and Services (e.g. home insurance)rose by 1.5% in 2015 and by 4.2% in 2016.

Household debt declining but still highHousehold debt stood at €143.8 billion (or €30,200 perhousehold) in the last quarter of 2016, or just over 140%of disposable income. While this is down from its peak of€203.7 billion in the third quarter of 2008, when itequated to almost 220% of disposable income, Irishhouseholds are still among the most indebted in Europe.

7.7% of all private residential mortgage accounts were inarrears for more than 90 days by the end of 2016, downfrom a peak of 12.9% in the second quarter of 2013. TheCentral Bank estimated that 2% of all loans for PrincipalDwelling Homes (PDHs) in arrears in mid-2016 were innegative equity. Arrears were the lowest in the largeurban centres and highest in the Border and Midlands re-gions.

Public finances improve but spending constrained Following the elimination of the ‘excessive deficit’ in 2015(i.e. a deficit of no more than 3% of GDP, as requiredunder domestic and EU rules), Ireland formally movedfrom the ‘corrective’ to the ‘preventative’ arm of the EUStability and Growth Pact in mid-2016. This still imposedtight constraints over the period under review. Withinthese constraints, Budget 2015 was the first expansionarybudget in over eight years, amounting to a fiscal expan-


sion of €1 billion (with substantial additional spending an-nounced immediately beforehand) while Budget 2016saw an expansion of €1.3 billion. Substantial amounts inboth budgets were allocated to tax cuts, benefiting thebetter off in particular.

The Department of Finance estimates that the generalgovernment balance fell to -1.9% of GDP in 2015 and to -0.5% of GDP in 2016, down from 12.6% in 2012. Thedebt/GDP ratio fell to 79% of GDP in 2015 and to 75% ofGDP in 2016, down from 120% in 2013. It is of course thecase that the distortions of the national accounts dis-cussed above played an important part in improving thepublic finances over this period, particularly in 2015.

The Housing CrisisThe lack of sufficient housing emerged not just as a majorsocial crisis but also a barrier to future economic progressover 2015 and 2016. The Republic’s housing output needsare estimated as between 25,000 and 35,000 per annum.Output was estimated at just 11,000 in 2015 and 15,000in 2016, and doubts have been expressed about the reli-ability of these estimates. Property prices by the end of2016 were around 50% above the trough in pricesreached in 2013 while rents were above pre-crash levelsby early 2017. Social housing suffered from spending cutsafter 2008 with output falling from 5,000 units in that yearto just 75 in 2015. Arising from inadequate output and ris-ing prices and rent, the number of households on socialhousing waiting lists, which had doubled between 2005and 2011, remained high and stood at 91,600 in autumn2016, while homelessness levels shot up, with 1,250 fam-ilies, including 2,600 children, homeless by early 2017, upnearly 90% on 2014 levels.

BrexitIreland is widely considered to be the EU member state(aside from the UK itself) that would be most negativelyaffected by Brexit, particularly if the UK Governmentopted for an extreme or ‘hard’ Brexit (i.e. to fully severthe UK from the Single Market and the Customs union).

The Central Bank estimates that under such a scenario,the Republic could lose 40,000 jobs in the 10 years follow-ing a UK departure. The Department of Finance estimates

that the most exposed manufacturing sectors would bepharma and chemicals, food and beverages, traditionalmanufacturing (e.g. wood and paper products), materialsmanufacturing and electrical equipment. The most ex-posed services sectors would be transport, insurance andfinancial services, and computer services. The Economicand Social Research Institute (ESRI) in turn estimates thataside from pharma and chemicals, the most exposedmanufacturers are mostly Irish-owned small and medium-sized enterprises, regionally-based (i.e. outside the mainurban areas), with relatively low-profit levels, a high mul-tiplier or knock-on economic impact and a high share ofregional employment.

It is difficult to gauge the immediate impact of the June2016 decision on Ireland over the period under review. Tothe end of 2016, the impact was mainly experiencedthrough the sizeable decline in sterling against the euro(a fall of 10% between June and December 2016), whichencouraged cross-border shopping as well as greater vol-ume of online purchases from UK-based websites. Enter-prise Ireland reported that while total exports by domesticfirms grew by 6% to reach €21.6 billion in 2016, thegrowth in exports to the UK slowed from 12% in 2015 to2% in 2016, largely due to a decline in food exports, andit suggested that the impact of Brexit on Irish companieshad already started.

Given that the UK only formally notified its intention toleave the EU (‘triggered Article 50’) in March 2017, thatthe withdrawal process is expected to take at least twoyears and that negotiations on future EU-UK relationshipsare expected to take much longer, Brexit uncertainty islikely to continue for some time.

OverviewThe recovery in wages was much more modesttham the growth in the economy and in employ-ment over 2015-2016. Average weekly earningsacross the entire economy rose by 2% during thisperiod. This was due to an increase in averageweekly paid hours and to an increase in averagehourly earnings (+1%). In-work poverty remains amajor challenge. The proportion of workers expe-riencing enforced deprivation, though falling, wasthree times pre-crash levels, and the number oflow-paid workers with children in receipt of FamilyIncome Supplement more than doubled between2007 and 2015.

Average weekly earnings up 2% over 2015-2016Central Statistics Office (CSO) data indicates thataverage weekly earnings (seasonally-adjusted)were €713.75 in the last quarter of 2016, up €14.21(2%) on €699.54 in the last quarter of 2014. Theseaverages mask wide variations between sectorsand wide changes over the period. In the last quar-ter of 2016, they ranged from €1,101 in FinancialServices and Insurance to €338 in Accommodationand food services. Over this two year period, av-erage weekly earnings rose in 13 economic sectors– Mining and Quarrying, Manufacturing, Wholesaleand Retail Trade, Transportation and Storage, Ac-commodation and Food Services, Information andCommunication, Financial and Insurance activities,Real Estate activities, Professional, Scientific andTechnical activities, Administrative and SupportServices, Education, Human Health and SocialWork, and Arts, Entertainment and Recreation –and fell in three – Construction, Public Administra-tion and Defence, and other service activities. Thelargest percentage increase was in Real Estate ac-tivities, up 22.9%, while the largest percentage de-crease was in Other Services activities, down0.9%.

Rise in average weekly paid hoursThe increase in average weekly earnings waspartly due to an increase in average weekly paidhours, which rose from 31.9 hours to 32.4 hours(un-adjusted).

In the last quarter of 2016, average weekly paidhours (seasonally-adjusted) ranged (Education ex-cluded) from 40.3 in Mining and Quarrying to 26.7in Accommodation and Food services. The largestincrease was in Mining and Quarrying, from 38 to40.3 hours, while the largest decrease was in Con-struction, from 37.9 to 36.8 hours. They rose from31.8 hours to 32.2 in the private sector and from32.1 to 32.5 in the public sector.

Average hourly earnings up 1% over 2015-2016

The increase in average weekly earnings was alsodue to an increase in average hourly earnings (sea-sonally-adjusted), up 22c (1%) from €22.91 in thelast quarter of 2014 to €22.13 in the last quarter of2016. In the last quarter of 2016, they ranged from€33.74 in Education and €30.46 in Information andCommunication to €12.60 in Accommodation andfood service activities. Over this two year period,average hourly earnings rose in nine economicsectors - Construction, Wholesale and RetailTrade, Accommodation and Food services, Infor-mation and Communication, Real Estate activities,Professional, Scientific and Technical, Administra-tive and Support services, and Human Health andSocial Work – and fell in seven – Mining and quar-rying, Manufacturing, Financial and Insurance, Pub-lic Administration and Defence, Education, Arts,Entertainment and Recreation and other serviceactivities.

The largest percentage increase in average hourlyearnings was in Information and Communication(+17.9%), while the largest percentage decreasewas in Financial and insurance activities (-8.3%).Manufacturing saw a decline of 2 cent (-0.01%).

Average hourly earnings rose by 2.3% in firms withfewer than 50 employees, by 1% in firms with be-tween 50 and 250 employees and by 0.7% in firmswith more than 250 employees.

Average hourly earnings in the private sector roseby 1.7% and by 1.6% in the public sector. The CSOmakes the point that since many public sector em-ployees are paid on the basis of incrementalscales, recruitment to the public sector, particu-larly at the lower paid levels, generally depressesaverage hourly earnings.

Wage Developments



CSO data does indicate that total public sectoremployment, including semi-states, rose by 3.3%from 374,000 in the last quarter of 2014 to386,300 in the last quarter of 2016. The largestpercentage increase in employment was in theCivil Service, which was up 4.5% from 38,200 inthe last quarter of 2014 to 39,900 in the last quar-ter of 2016. The only sub-sector to record a fallwas the Defence Forces, down 3% from 9,800 to9,500 over this period. It should also be recalledthat 427,300 were employed in the public sector,including in the semi-states, in the last quarter of2008. This was reduced by more than 55,000 (-13%) over the following six years, to 371,900 bythe third quarter of 2014. It has been rising sincethen, though not necessarily in the areas that sawthe greatest reductions.

One in five low paid in 2014Data published by the EU’s statistical agency Eu-rostat in December 2016 indicated that over onein five employees (21.6%) were low-wage earners.This meant that they earned two-thirds or less ofmedian gross hourly earnings, the gross hourlyearnings that divide the top half of gross hourlyearnings from the bottom half, in 2014, the mostrecent year for which Europe-wide data was avail-able. Eurostat estimated median gross hourly earn-ings at €20.2 an hour, putting Ireland’s low-wagethreshold at €13.40 an hour. Ireland’s 21.6% lowwage earners, which included 25.6% of womenand 16.8% of men, was the seventh highest of the26 EU member states for which data was availableand was above the EU-26 average of 17.2%.

One in 12 on or below the minimum wage at endof 2016Prior to 2016, the last change to the national min-imum wage (NMW) had been in July 2011, whenthe €1 cut imposed in early 2011, which had re-duced it from €8.65 to €7.65, was reversed. CSO data, published in April 2017, indicated thatthe proportion of employees (for whom earningsdata was reported), earning the NMW or less fellfrom 11.4% (173,200) in the second quarter of2016, to 10.3% (157,600) in the third quarter, andto 8.6% (134,500) in the last quarter of 2016. Thequestions upon which these results were basedwere added to CSO surveys only in the secondquarter of 2016, so it is not possible to comparethese results with early data. It does appear how-ever that the numbers earning the NMW or less isgreater than previously thought. Taking the average of the results for the last three

quarters of 2016, 54% of all those earning theNMW or less were females while 46% were males.In total, 11% of all female employees and 9% of allmale employees earned the NMW or less. Overall,the Services sector accounted for more than fourout of five (82%) of all those earning the NMW orless. Specifically, while the Wholesale and RetailTrade and Accommodation and Food services ac-counted for 14% and 8% respectively of all em-ployees, they each accounted for around onequarter of all employees earning the NMW or less.Employees aged between 15-24 accounted forless than one in ten (9%) of all employees, butnearly two in five (38%) of all those earning theNMW or less. Employees working on a part-timebasis accounted for just over one-fifth (23%) of allemployees, but almost three in five (59%) of allthose earning the NMW or less. Just over a quarter(27%) of all employees who worked part-timeearned the NMW or less. The proportion of Irishnationals who reported earning the NMW or lesswas 9%, compared to 17% for all non-nationals. Intotal, while non-nationals accounted for 16% of allemployees, they accounted for 28% of all employ-ees earning the NMW or less.

The Low Pay Commission and the Minimum Wage

The National Minimum Wage (Low Pay Commis-sion) Act 2015 established the Low Pay Commis-sion as the statutory body to examine the NMWhourly rate of pay and to make annual recommen-dations to the Government.

In 2015, ICTU had proposed that the NMW beraised by €1.35 to €10 an hour. In 2016 it recom-mended that it be aligned with the Living Wage,estimated at €11.50 an hour in July 2016.

The Low Pay Commission submitted its first reportin July 2015, recommending an 50c increase from€8.65 to €9.15. This came into effect in January2016. The Commission’s second report was sub-mitted in July 2016, recommending a 10c increaseto €9.25 an hour. This came into effect in January2017.

It should be noted that while the Programme for aPartnership Government (May 2016) includes com-mitments to strengthen the role of the Low PayCommission in relation to in-work poverty and to‘review’ the lower pay of women, it also appearsto set a cap on possible increases with the com-mitment to raise the NMW to €10.50 an hour by2021.

Ireland’s minimum wage compared to other Euro-pean countries


In February 2017, Eurostat estimated that in pur-chasing power standards terms, which eliminateprice differentials, Ireland’s NMW in January 2017(i.e. €9.25 an hour) was the sixth highest of the 22EU member states for which data was available –after Luxembourg, Germany, Belgium, the Nether-lands and France - and was just above the UK.

In-work poverty, though falling, was above pre-crisis levelsThe CSO Survey of Income and Living Conditions(SILC) data indicates that extreme in-workpoverty, though declining, remained above pre-crisis levels over this period.

The CSO firstly defines the ‘at risk of poverty rate’as the proportion of persons with an equivalisedincome below 60% of the national median income(i.e. the income dividing the top half from the bot-tom half).

It then defines enforced deprivation as the propor-tion of persons who are excluded and margin-alised from consuming or availing of at least twoof 11 basic goods and services that are consideredthe norm for other people in society, due to notbeing able to afford them. These include not beingable to afford two pairs of strong shoes; a mealwith meat, chicken or fish, or a vegetarian equiva-lent every second day; to keep one’s home ade-quately warm; to replace worn out furniture; or amorning, afternoon or evening out in the last fort-night for entertainment.

And it defines an individual who is at risk ofpoverty and who is experiencing enforced depri-vation as being in ‘consistent poverty’.

CSO SILC data for 2015 (2016 data not available)indicates that 5.8% of those at work were at riskof poverty, down from 6.0% in 2014 and 6.7% in2007.

16.4% of those at work experienced enforced dep-rivation in 2015. While this is down from 19.9% in2014 it is still over three times 2007’s rate of 4.9%.And 2.1% of those at work were living in consistentpoverty in 2015, down from 2.6% in 2014, but stillabove the 1.2% in 2007.

The CSO does not indicate the most commonforms of enforced deprivation being experiencedby people at work who were in consistent poverty

but for all those living in consistent poverty in2015, the three most common forms were beingunable to afford to replace worn-out furniture(74%), a morning, afternoon or evening out in thelast fortnight for entertainment (68%), and havingfamily or friends for a drink or a meal once a month(62%).

Over 50,000 low-paid families receive Family In-come SupplementThe extent of in-work poverty is also revealed bythe rise in spending on the Family Income Supple-ment (FIS), which is paid to low-paid employeeswith children up to the age of 18 (or 22 if in full-time education), and who work at least 19 hours aweek. In 2007, 22,800 families, including 47,000children, received the FIS. While the FIS is now paid to families who previ-ously may have received other supports the num-ber of families in receipt of the FIS in 2015 hadrisen to 55,000, including 120,000 children, at anestimated cost of €349 million, and to over 57,000families, including almost 127,000 children, byearly 2017, at an estimated cost of €422 million.

Expectations for the futureEU Eurobarometer public opinion surveys indicatethat 31% of all Irish respondents (note, not just ofthose at work) in autumn 2016 felt their house-hold’s financial situation would improve over thefollowing year, marginally up on the 30% who feltit would improve in autumn 2014. 61% felt it wouldstay the same, up from 53% in autumn 2014, and6% felt it would worsen, down from 15% two yearspreviously. It should be noted that the proportionwho felt their household’s financial situation wouldimprove over the following year fell after late2015, possibly reflecting concern about Brexit.


Social Developments

A number of momentous events occurred duringthis period which shaped a volatile period notalone in Ireland and Europe but across the world.

February 2015 saw the election of Alexis Tsipras,leader of Syrizia in Greece, as Prime Minister witha strong mandate to reject the previously agreedTroika debt deal. Public agitation, which bubbledover into street riots, took centre stage and pro-voked questions about the unity and future of theEuropean union itself.

Tsipras, was re-elected in September 2015 follow-ing a snap General Election, which was essentiallya referendum on a re-negotiated deal agreed withthe EU/IMF/ECB in July 2015. It proved impossibleto resist deep austerity measures, including theprivatisation of public assets which Syrizia hadhoped to prevent. The party avoided the country’soutright bankruptcy, but the scale of the challengeto re-establish Greece as a functioning economy,and to restore hope and opportunity for the Greekpeople remained immense.

In the United Kingdom, a General Election tookplace in May 2015, resulting in a Conservative ma-jority government under Prime Minister, DavidCameron. Labour’s Ed Miliband subsequently re-signed as Leader. Jeremy Corbyn took over in Sep-tember having won the party’s leadership contestwith 59.5% of the votes. Under pressure frombackbench Tory MPs, Cameron called a referen-dum on membership of the European union in June2016. After a campaign marked by fears about im-migration, loss of sovereignty and a myriad ofother concerns stoked by UKIP, the Brexit decisionwas carried by 52% to 48%. Cameron resigned andTheresa May became leader of the Conservativeparty and Prime Minister.

While Northern Ireland and Scotland voted to re-main in Europe, Westminster ruled out theprospect of any special deals for the devolvedgovernments and took an early ‘hard’ Brexit ap-proach. In the aftermath of the referendum JeremyCorbyn faced a challenge to his leadership withinthe parliamentary Labour party but he secured anincreased mandate of 61.8% from the Labour Partymembership.

In November 2016 Donald Trump won the US Pres-idential election on the back of promises to returnjobs and investment to America, particularly in theso-called ‘Rust Belt’; to curb immigration and toshake up the Washington ‘establishment’. Hiselection as President was followed by massprotests in cities across the United States, thoughthe defeated Democrat, Hilary Clinton urged hersupporters to accept the result. Trump had neverbefore held political office and his election wasviewed with widespread concern internationally.

In the European union, the Commission’s consul-tation on an ‘EU Pillar of Social Rights’ concludedat the end of 2016. Launched in March, the aimwas to improve the functioning of labour marketand social security systems across Europe, partic-ularly in the light of technological changes and in-novation, by providing a set of principles againstwhich to benchmark the performance of MembersStates, primarily in the Eurozone. The plan was firstput forward in Commission President, Jean-ClaudeJunker’s maiden ‘State of the European union’ ad-dress delivered in September 2015. It was part ofan attempt to respond to popular disengagementand disaffection with the EU project in the wakeof the international financial and economic crisis.

At home, 24th May 2015, marked an historic dayas Ireland voted Yes to marriage equality by 62.1%.SIPTU was very active in the referendum cam-paign, based on a recommendation to support theproposition from the National Executive Council.District Council meetings in Cork, Kilkenny, Water-ford, Wexford, Cavan, Kildare and Dublin dis-cussed the topic and mobilised support. Theunion’s position was also promulgated through theLiberty newspaper, highlighting equality as a corevalue for our union, whether in relation to fair payand conditions of employment, securing the rightsof lesbian and gay people or advancing social jus-tice generally.

SIPTU also played a pivotal role at Irish Congressof Trade unions level, with Ethel Buckley acting asConvenor of ‘Trade unionists for Civil MarriageEquality’, which was established as an umbrellagroup drawn from across the trade union move-ment. The group launched on the eve of St Valen-


tine’s Day amid music, song and a special screen-ing of the film PRIDE in Liberty Hall.

Opposition to water charges in 2015 took the formof rallies and other protest action through theRight2Water campaign. SIPTU argued for an ade-quate allocation to meet all the domestic needs ofhouseholders with a tariff only to apply for any ad-ditional excessive usage and pledged to work withother trade unions and civil society groups toachieve these objectives. SIPTU also pushed for aReferendum to enshrine the supply of water inpublic ownership.

In July 2015, a determined lobby by SIPTU, sup-ported by other unions, finally bore fruit with theresurrection of collective bargaining rights thathad previously been struck down by the SupremeCourt. Former SIPTU Vice-President, Patricia King,worked particularly closely on the issue with theLabour party in government to overcome resist-ance from some quarters within Fine Gael andfrom employers. The Industrial Relations (Amend-ment) Act 2015 gave workers an enhanced abilityto engage in collective bargaining, even if a tradeunion was not recognised in the workplace. It al-lowed for Registered Employment Agreements inenterprises and made provision for new SectoralEmployment Orders.

In June 2015 SIPTU’s National Executive recom-mended that members support the ‘LansdowneRoad Agreement’ on public service pay, in orderto follow a pathway towards pay recovery and tosecure safeguards against outsourcing. A ballotwas conducted and members voted to back thedeal.

On the 12th June 2015, Clerys workers receivedthe sudden and devastating news that the depart-ment store was to close immediately with the lossof 460 jobs. The business had been split into sep-arate operating and property companies. Thebuilding was sold to Natrium Ltd, while the tradingarm went into liquidation. The Justice for ClerysWorkers campaign began to achieve a fair out-come for former employees and secure legislationto ensure other workers could not be left high-and-dry in a similar manner.

Upon taking over leadership of the Labour party,Táinaiste Joan Burton secured an agreement withFine Gael to establish a Low Pay Commission to

make recommendations on the national minimumwage. In July 2015, the Commission recommendedan increase of 50 cents in the rate to €9.15 and thiswas implemented from 1 January 2016.

In early 2015 the issue of precarious work movedup the political agenda. Minister of State forLabour Affairs, Gerald Nash, commissioned a studyinto the prevalence of zero hours contracts in theIrish economy and a report was issued in Novem-ber containing a series of policy and legislativerecommendations to tackle the abuse of irregularworking arrangements.

The 31st Dáil was dissolved in February 2016 anda General Election held on 26th. SIPTU issued astatement urging members to vote for candidateson the Left and help the Labour Party deny rightwing parties a majority in government. The peoplespoke and the resultant composition of the Dáilwas Fine Gael 50, Fianna Fail 44, Sinn Fein 23, In-dependents 12, Labour 7, Independent Alliance 6,AAA-PBP 6, Independents for Change 4, Social De-mocrats 3 and Green Party 2. The election was par-ticularly bruising for Labour while Fianna Fail andSinn Fein made considerable gains.

The outgoing Fine Gael/Labour administration re-mained in place in a care-taker capacity while dis-cussions on the formation of a new governmenttook place. Given the fragmented political scene,it was not until the 6th May 2016 that Enda Kennyhad sufficient support to become Taoiseach, withthe votes of Fine Gael, nine Independent deputiesand, crucially, a minority government agreementwith Fianna Fail.

In the meantime, a programme of events to com-memorate the centenary of the 1916 Rising tookplace, cumulating in a march through Dublin onEaster Sunday. Given that James Connolly and Lib-erty Hall had a prominent place in the Rising, SIPTUwas heavily involved in the commemorations,hosting a series of cultural events.

While SIPTU was supportive of initiatives to extendthe apprenticeship model into new areas such ashospitality and transport, as signalled by the Ap-prenticeship Council in mid 2015, concernsemerged in 2016 about the way in which this washappening. SIPTU criticised the lack of consulta-tion in respect of two proposed apprenticeships,one for commis chefs and the other for drivers of


Heavy Goods Vehicles (HGVs). The concern wasto ensure genuine training, proper supervision, ac-ceptable terms and conditions, career progressionand measures to prevent abuse were put in place.

In July 2016, the Low Pay Commission issued itssecond report, recommending an increase of 10cin the minimum wage to €9.25. SIPTU criticised itas wholly inadequate since a Living Wage rate of€11.50 is required as the basis for a dignified life.It underlined the need for collective bargaining asthe key to decent work, achieving adequate work-ing hours and establishing safeguards such as sickpay and pension provisions.

In August 2016, SIPTU called for an end to the JobBridge internship scheme, because it was nolonger needed in the context of a more buoyanteconomy and steeply declining rates of unemploy-ment.

On 11th October, 2016, the new Fine Gael/Inde-pendents coalition announced Budget 2017. Hav-ing argued for no tax cuts, SIPTU regretted thatthe government favoured this approach over moresubstantial investment, notably in housing, infra-structure and childcare. SIPTU had argued inBudget 2016 that an increased share of resourcesshould be allocated to public services and that taxmeasures should be concentrated on low to mid-dle income earners, in the ratio of 2:1. It was dis-couraged by the government opting for a 50:50split.

From the start of 2016 SIPTU worked closely withthe Labour party to advance a Private Members’Bill, introduced to the Seanad by Ivana Bacik, togive collective bargaining rights to freelanceworkers and by November it had passed all stagesof the Upper House, with the support of the Gov-ernment. However, the next phase of securing itspassage through the Dail was not completed bythe end of the year.


Disputes sanctioned in 2015


Disputes sanctioned in 2016


Disputes sanctioned in 2016 (continued)


Changes in Sick Pay Schemes and other

Working Conditions 2015-2016


Health Division

Biennial Delegate Conference

The SIPTU Health Divisional Conference was heldon 13 October and 14 October, 2016, in LibertyHall, Dublin.

SIPTU 2015 2016

Ambulance 1124 1158Allied Health Professionals 3388 3257Nursing 3689 3707Support Grade 30496 31676Totals 38697 39798

Speakers at the conference included:

Jack O’Connor, General President, SIPTUJoe O’Flynn, General Secretary, SIPTUGene Mealy, Vice-President, SIPTUJoe Cunningham, National Organiser, SIPTUPaul Bell, Divisional Organiser, SIPTUPaddy Moran, Honorary National Secretary of SIPTU Retired Members SectionPatricia King, General Secretary, ICTU, on the Tuture of Health Care in IrelandFederica Pipolo, Calais Jungle VolunteerIlias Kondylis, Senior Lecturer, The London School of Medicine on the impact of austerityand privatisation in Greece Mathias Maucher, EPSU Policy Officer, Health and Social Services on TTIP/CETA agreementsand their potential impact on public health serv-ices Dr Guillermo Ruben, La Federación de Asociaciones de Trabajadores de la Sanidad Argentina on multinationalisation of health services in South AmericaProfessor Karen Spilsbury, Investment Chairin Nursing Research, University of Leeds

Divisional CommitteeJulie BissettAlan BurkeJoe CaseyCathal FloodSean MacGabhannColette ReganLiz FahyMatt ReillyRory Hawkins

Sally CorrMary Dolan McLoughlinCiaran SheridanPadraig HeverinRebecca DonohueBrendan FaganEamon Cluskey

Support Staff Sector CommitteePeter BehanBrian CondraJacqueline Cooke Broc Delaney Martina Gilmartin William Mc GuinnessDenis MurphyMarion O'DonnellDes ReillyNoel WardePat LalorJohn HallyBernadette MurphyAnne RochfordChristina TryrellBilly WalshPaul Ryan

Ambulance Sector CommitteeSeamus BlancJohn O’LearyColleen WheelanTerry DevineCiran SheridanDeclan DuffyDeclan O’FarrellRobert FitzgeraldTommy Scales

Allied Health Professionals Sector CommitteeBrendan FaganGerard NooneDavid NooneMarie BarrySally CorrColette ReganJonathan WoodsMichelle Monaghan


Nursing and Midwifery Sector CommitteeAnne BurkeEamonn CluskeyRebecca DonohueDonie DoodyPat MurphyPadraig PeytonPaul BoyleBernie HeneghanSimon GibbonsPadraig Heverin

Divisional Staff

Paul Bell Divisional Organiser

Kevin Figgis Sector Organiser

Sean Nolan Sector Organiser

Mari Butler Sector Organiser

Tony Kenny Sector Organiser

Declan Ferry Industrial Organiser

Pat Condon Industrial Organiser

Pat Flannery Industrial Organiser

Sharon Cregan Industrial Organiser

Ted Kenny Industrial Organiser

Liam Allen Assistant Industrial Organiser

Aideen Carberry Assistant Industrial Organiser

David Field Assistant Industrial Organiser

Sandra Flanagan Assistant Industrial Organiser

Daminan Ginley Assistant Industrial Organiser

John Hubbard Assistant Industrial Organiser

Mark Lohan Assistant Industrial Organiser

John McCamley Assistant Industrial Organiser

Dave Morris Assistant Industrial Organiser

Mark Quinn Assistant Industrial Organiser

Ray Stanley Assistant Industrial Organiser

Ben Weathers Assistant Industrial Organiser,Ben retired last year.

Mary Holmes Administrative Assistant

Celine O’Connor Administrative Assistant

Laura Tucker Administrative Assistant

Kathleen O’Shaughnessy Administrative Assistant

OVERVIEW OF SIPTU HEALTH DIVISION 2015-2017

SIPTU’s Health Division consists of five distinct sec-tors catering for the broad spectrum of our mem-bers serving our National Health Service:

Ambulance SectorAllied Health Professional SectorNursing SectorSupport Staff SectorCare Sector (Health Care Assistants)

During this period the Health Division extended itswork in organising members by creating a dedi-cated sector for Health Care Assistants and relatedgrades.

Our Division also concentrated on developing thestructures necessary to establish an additional sec-tor to serve members working in the IntellectualDisability Sector in response to growing demandsfor such services and additional staff being em-ployed in it after a period of enforced recruitmentstagnation.

The period was dominated by two specific events:the General election of February 2016, which ledto a Fine Gael Government and dismissal of theLabour Party from Government; and the negotiat-ing of a successor agreement to the HaddingtonRoad Agreement.

The Lansdowne Road Agreement succeeded inensuring members on low and middle incomescould begin a journey forward in the process ofunwinding the FEMPI legislation. The first conces-sions on pay increases for the lower paid wereachieved, as well as the introduction of a thresholdwhich allowed thousands of low paid HealthWorkers to be exempted from levies appliedunder the FEMPI legislation.

With the assistance of the SIPTU Campaigns De-partment, the ‘Better Health Care Better Jobs’campaign continued and a ‘national conversation’was organised with shop stewards and activiststhroughout the country.

However, what was different about the Lans-downe Road Agreement was the Government’sdetermination to undermine the terms of theagreement for one of the Nursing and Midwifery


unions, and, at the latter end of 2016, its commit-ment to a game changing agreement with AnGarda Siochana.

These actions led to claims from the ICTU PublicSector Committee for engagement on the anom-alies generated by the Garda concessions. Gov-ernment committed to engagement on the crisisin the first quarter of 2017.

The Better Healthcare Better Jobs campaign con-tinued to give ownership of the recovery agendato our shop stewards and members which, in turn,empowered our Division in the creation of a strate-gic plan for future public sector national negotia-tions. Our national conversation with memberscontinued to concentrate on political goals inareas concerning pay justice and, in particular, therigid application of the Pension Related Levy (PRD)and the Universal Social Charge (USC).

The main focus of our campaign was to encourageand reinvigorate our Stewards and Activists topursue the elimination of the FEMPI legislation, re-sist outsourcing, achieve increases in pay and se-cure a commitment to employ more staff.

All the issues identified as core to our memberswere endorsed by way of motions presented anddebated at the 2016 Health Division Biennial Dele-gate Conference.

Much of the Health Division’s daily work involvedengagement with the HSE and Voluntary Hospitalson issues concerning implementation of theHaddington Road and Lansdowne Road agree-ments. All sectors in the Health Division engagedwith employers on issues concerning payment ofcompensation, redeployment, recruitment, theSupport Staff Intern programme, recruitment andother issues concerning the interpretation and im-plementation of the agreements.

MOTIONS PASSED

Motion 1 Mandatory registration for Healthcare AssistantsSIPTU calls on government to give priority to theregulation of Health Care assistants supported bythe necessary investment in ongoing educationand training, in recognition of the role and respon-sibilities they carry out in the various healthcaresettings.

Motion 2 Long Term Organising StrategyThat SIPTU invest in a Long Term Organising Strat-egy to build Collective Strength through organis-ing new and existing Health Care Assistant’s so wecan become the leading contributor to the profes-sionalisation of their role in a National Europeanand International Context.

SIPTU cannot rely on the organised public sectoralone to create density among Health Care Assis-tants, and with the potential for new types of serv-ices to spring up, run and staffed by the privatesector we need to meet the Health Care assistantswhere they are educated and trained.

We believe we should have a core group of spe-cially trained Organisers to visit each HealthCaretraining /education facility to create a data baseof student members, with appropriate follow upand support, so we can build long term SIPTU as-sociation with HealthCare assistants – increasingcollective strength and ensuring density and influ-ence in the SIPTU HealthCare Sector for years tocome.

Organising, Recruitment and CommunicationsThe Health Division continued to increase mem-bership in 2015 and 2016. It has now reached40,000.

This momentum was made possible by the con-certed effort of our colleagues in SIPTU’s Organis-ing Department and by the collaborative focus ofour Officials, Shop Stewards and Activists.

The Health Division has invested heavily in a ded-icated communications programme, led by a com-mitted and experienced colleague. (Name) Detailsof the Health Division communications project isavailable in the health section of this report.

Two other significant developments in developingour membership potential has been the creationof the Health Care Assistant and Care AssistantSector, strategically initiated in recognition of thegrowing number of members working in thisgrade, ensuring that Government and HSE initia-tives focussed on this grade are maximised forbenefit our membership.1

Our Division has also been actively developing aSector for members working in the Intellectual Dis-


ability area and it is anticipated that this Sector willbecome a reality in 2017.

Under the heading of Communications it is impor-tant to note that the lead up to the SIPTU HealthDivision Biennial Delegate Conference in 2016 pro-vided for very successful interaction betweenShop Stewards and Activists. This, in turn, led to avery successful conference with all motions pre-sented outlining our members objectives in any fu-ture negotiations for a successor agreement of theLRA.

It is fair to say that what emerged from our inter-action and conference was a manifesto for makingthings betters for the thousands of SIPTU membersemployed in the Health Service, as well as the cit-izens of our nation who depend on the public pro-vision of properly staffed and resourced healthservices.

SUPPORT SERVICES SECTOR1st January 2015 to 31st December 2016 has wit-nessed increased membership in the Support StaffSector through dedicated Organising Activity andCampaigning.

In our Sector’s last report in 2015 we were in a po-sition to report that Support Staff would enjoy thereintroduction of their Job Evaluation process andthat all Support Staff Interns would be offered per-manent employment on completion of 18 monthsservice. This will benefit 1,500 members. Both ofthese initiatives were achieved within the terms ofthe Lansdowne Road Agreement (LRA). But, aswith any agreement, the implementation dependson the will of Activists and members as both ofthese initiatives were frustrated and challenged bythe HSE, the Department of Health and the Depart-ment of Public Expenditure and Reform.

The Lansdowne Road Agreement also deliveredon the first steps in delivering for our members onlow pay from the impact of the Pension RelatedDeduction (PRD) imposed through the FinancialEmergency Measures in the Public Interest Act 1and 2 (FEMPI). Members on wages or salariesunder E28,500 were declared exempt from thelevy, with effect on 1st January, 2015.

Members on pay below the FEMPI threshold alsosecured a pay increase over the period of theLansdowne Road Agreement.

The period of the report was not without conflict

which will be further elaborated on in this report.

However, Support Staff voiced their determinationto see the Lansdowne Road Agreement revisitedand negotiations brought forward from the expirydate of the national agreement due in 2018 to2017. This followed the Government’s decision tobreach the pay terms of the agreement to giveone group of public servants, namely members ofAn Garda Siochana a pay award than that ex-ceeded the terms of the LRA.

The campaign at the latter end 2016, driven bythat determination to secure fair play, led to theagreement that all public servants would have the€1,000 payment due on 1st October 2017 broughtforward April 1st, 2017, along with negotiations fora successor to the Lansdowne Road Agreement.

Disputes of Note within the Health Division Support Sector MembershipWhile there have been numerous sanctions forstrikes and industrial action approved in local dis-putes, the following three stand out as all arosefrom the non-application of the Lansdowne RoadAgreement, or an attack by a single employerwhich had the potential to undermine our termsand conditions throughout the Health Services.These included:

Non-implementation of Health Service SupportStaff Job Evaluation

Failure to address anomalies which impacted onincremental credits and, or pay and conditions ofmembers employed as interns

A unilateral decision by the management of StJames Hospital to enforce an extremely high payparking regime on members which would have re-sulted in all monetary gains made by our unionunder the Lansdowne Road Agreement beingwiped out.

The decision of the HSE and Department of Healthto breach the terms of the Lansdowne RoadAgreement by making concessions to one groupof workers in the Acute Hospital Network’s Emer-gency Department.

At the cut-off date for this report, 31st December,2016, with the exception of the issue concerningparking fees in St James’s Hospital, which was fullyresolved to our members’ satisfaction, the remain-ing issues were heading for requests for strike ac-


tion. This was because the employer either frus-trated or totally dismissed our members’ rights tothe benefit of these agreements and our exclusionfrom negotiations on the Emergency Departmentissue which placed SIPTU members working in thearea at an unfair disadvantage.

Outsourcing Support Staff ServicesSIPTU successfully negotiated significant amend-ments to the outsourcing clause in the HaddingtonRoad Agreement when it entered the LansdowneRoad negotiations. These strengthened the pro-tection of members’s jobs. It also successfullypushed the Government in Budget 2016 to aban-don the Health Service moratorium on staff recruit-ment introduced under FEMPI.

HSE expenditure on Agency costs continued togrow at alarming rates through 2015 and 2016.This situation was compounded by the HSE’s uni-lateral decision in 2015 to apply a “recruitmentpause” for the sole purpose of balancing the ac-counts.

It has become increasingly apparent that SIPTUand other public sector unions operating in healthneed a formal agreement on workforce planningfor the next five years in order to ensure that theexpected high level of retirements at the latterend of this period does not give rise to our agree-ment on ‘Outsourcing’ being undermined througha manufactured crisis created by a deliberate fail-ure on the employers’ part to address manpowerplanning.

Section 39 Organisations Institutional Care andCommunityOver the past two years we have been forced intoballoting for strike or industrial action in the Intel-lectual Disability area of the Health Service oper-ated by Section 39 organisations.

The ongoing disquiet has been because employ-ers in the non-acute and community sectors arenot in in a position to pay our members incre-ments, or arrears accruing from non-application ofincrements. These Section 39 employers have laidthe blame on the HSE, as they claim that cuts infunding have led to this progressively worseningcrisis.

The other significant issue since the LansdowneRoad Agreement was adopted by our members isthe HSE’s and the DPER’s failure to honour com-mitments that Service Level Agreements(SLA)

would contain a social clause committing organi-sations in this sector, and especially those provid-ing community services such as home help orhome care, not to apply zero hour contracts; andalso to recognise collective bargaining and utilisa-tion of the state’s dispute resolution institutions inorder to protect the lowest paid and most vulner-able workers in the Health Service.

The issue of zero hour contracts, precarious workand low pay in the Section 39 Community Caresector featured in the University of Limerick’sstudy, specially commissioned by the Fine Gaeland Labour Government, into this area, to whichSIPTU Health Division made a major contribution.

Intellectual Disability The past two years have been very challenging forthe Intellectual Disability Sub Sector. The contin-ued cuts in HSE funding, coupled with the ongoingeffects of previous cuts, has left the servicestarved of resources. In many instances, the devel-opmental work that was being done with clientshas been curtailed, or has ceased altogether,being replaced by basic maintenance pro-grammes. At meetings with Government officials,SIPTU has continually raised these cuts and theissue of future funding of Section 38 and Section39 agencies involved in this sector. The cuts havemeant that many of these agencies have seriouslydepleted financial resources as they have tried tobridge the funding gap themselves. We are nowin a situation where the viability of entire organi-sations is in jeopardy. This, in turn, has resulted incontinued pressure on members’ terms and con-ditions, leading to a number of disputes on non-payment of increments, or deferrals of paymentsdue on consolidated pay scales, fuelling the raceto the bottom. The focus going forward has to beon securing proper funding, the re-introduction ofmeaningful supports for service users, and a na-tional approach to the resolution of disputes.

They are all part of the one process. The thirdparty hearing process involving the WRC andLabour Court into the issue of Sleepover Al-lowances has created an opportunity to finally putin place a workable solution that adequately re-wards the efforts of our members, along with theircolleagues elsewhere in the Health family. Thesenegotiations on the implementation of the recentLabour Court Recommendation (LCR 203837), willshape the future of night work in the ID Sector. It

Graduate Nurses protest outside DáilÉireann, on 27th September, 2016 over

payments that nurses and midwiveswho graduated between 2011 and

2015 did not receive.


is important that we resolve this issue to our mem-bers’ satisfaction, and ensure that all retrospectionowing is paid within HSE, Section 38 and Section39 organisations.

Following on from recent negotiations with someSection 39 Agencies in this sub-sector, it has be-come more apparent that the protections affordedby the Lansdowne Road Agreement are vital tostem the diminution of hard won entitlements. Ourpolicy is to encourage these agencies to apply itsterms as a means of ending the erosion of mem-bers’ earnings. Strengthening the link betweenthese agencies and the HSE as the key source oftheir funding is another priority. This is, of course,against a background where the HSE, as the mainfunder, tries to distance itself from these employ-ers on industrial relations issues, abdicating its re-sponsibilities to ensure compliance with theprovisions of national agreements and best indus-trial relations practice.

Media reports of some very disappointing happen-ings has put a new focus on support services forpeople with Intellectual Disabilities. As a union,SIPTU strives to achieve a well resourced and pro-fessional ID service. It does not condone unprofes-sional behaviour. Many of these problems stemfrom the service being under resourced over along period. We must ensure that greater publicawareness of the problems leads to more re-sources and improved standards to address theseissues.

An important new development has been SIPTU’sdecision to establish an interim ID Sectoral Com-mittee, representative of the many grades and cat-egories of workers that we represent on a dailybasis within the ID community. This committee isworking through a programme based on five keyobjectives with a view to formally launching theSector in its own right in 2017. These objectivesare:

A joint review of the operation with the employerof the Trust in Care policy

A joint review of the Assault at Work scheme withthe provision of proper protections for SupportStaff in the workplace

An evaluation of the work carried out by SupportStaff within the sector, together with agreementon registration and minimum standards, and edu-cational opportunities for those employed withinthe sector

An agreed protocol for the ‘decongregation’ of

residents from care centres to individual housinglocations, that ensures adequate resources are putin place to respect the rights of service users andemployees. This will pose new challenges forSIPTU in organising a more dispersed workforce.

The provision of realistic and adequate funding forall ID services to avoid the race to the bottom.

As the wider economy improves, we need to en-sure that extra resources for those with IntellectualDisabilities are put at the forefront of health policy.Too often in the past, their needs have been for-gotten in the face of wider health issues. We nowhave an opportunity to reclaim much of theground lost during the past decade of cuts. Inkeeping with these developments, the union willbe building on the work of the past two years tocreate a vibrant full Sectoral structure during thecoming year that is representative of all the work-ers involved in ID. Now is the time to focus in apositive manner on delivering on our five agreedobjectives.

Health Care AssistantsOver 100 HCAs attended the launch of the SIPTUHealth Care Sector Assistant (HCA) Sector in theRoyal College of Physicians on 26th March 2015.Together with Leo Varadkar, Minister for Health,and key decision makers and influencers, we con-firmed SIPTU’s status as the excepted Trade unionbody for Health Care Assistants. SIPTU also calledon the Department of Health and the HSE to es-tablish a National Forum for HCAs and relatedgrades, where we could pursue the sectorsagenda with the employer. The launch was at-tended by Jack O’Connor, General President ofSIPTU, Patricia King, General Secretary of ICTU,keynote speakers and invited guests.

The objective was to establish SIPTU as the ‘Go tounion’ for Health Care Assistants and relatedGrades. The union organized a campaign to:

1. Establish SIPTU as the only union with negotiation rights for HCAs and related grades

2. Organise and build a strong collective base so that we can represent the grades collectively

3. Call on the Dept of Health and the HSE to establish a permanent National Forum for HCAs and related grades so that, as the leading trade union in Ireland, SIPTU would have a forum in which we can influence the future development of the grade and deliver

SIPTU members and activists joined with colleagues from the European Public Services

Union (EPSU) on World Health Day 2016(Thursday, 7th April) to protest outside the

European Commission, Brussels, to highlightthe threat of the increasing privatisation of

health services across Europe.


the SIPTU Care Sector’s five point agenda, with its twin objectives of recognition and development, including the negotiation of pay and conditions.

Five Point Agenda1. Registration and recognition2. National Job Description and appropriate

workplace uniform.3. Ongoing Education Training, Development

and Progression.4. Permanency and incremental credit

for Interns.5. SIPTU Negotiated pay and conditions.

The first AGM of the SIPTU HealthCare Sector washeld in the Oak Room, Mansion House, Dublin, on30th March 2016. Significant developments in-cluded:

• The establishment of a National Forum for HCAs and related grades in November 2016. A review of the grade across all disciplines isenvisaged. This will provide a platform for the SIPTU Healthcare sector (HCA) to progress its agenda.

• As part of the Lansdowne Road Agreement (LRA), a Job Evaluation exercise was secured for Support Grades. HCAs and related gradeswill be part of this exercise, and it will allow the expanded role carried out by Health Care assistants to be captured in all its various guises.

• The SIPTU Healthcare (HCA) sector succeeded in gaining permanency after 18 months for staff recruited under the HSE intern scheme, instead of the previously agreed 24 months.

• Other aspects of pay and conditions of HCAsand related grades were addressed under the LRA, including the Pension levy thresh-old, which was increased – removing all those earning under €28.000 from its application.

NATIONAL AMBULANCE SECTORThe financial membership within the Sector cur-rently stands at 1,157 members and is increasingeach year.

We have five fulltime SIPTU organisers assigned to

the National Ambulance Service. They are TedKenny who assists with the National committeesand in national discussions with the employer. PatFlannery, Declan Ferry and John McCamley haveresponsibility for the NAS regionally and myself,Sean Nolan, as the Sector Organiser.

Our Divisional Organiser Paul Bell provides valuedassistance and support on national issues as re-quired.

We have over 70 committed Representativesacross the country with a number sitting on theNational Committee’s Irish Ambulance Represen-tative Council and the National Ambulance SectorCommittee. I wish to thank our Shop Stewards fortheir commitment and for all the time they put inon a voluntary basis on behalf of members acrossthe country.

In 2015 the 10% restoration of basic pay to our In-termediate Care operatives was raised in the con-text of the Haddington Road Agreement and howit was to be applied. It was applied on the basis ofa new ten point formula that replaced the oldeight points with a long service increment, thus al-lowing members to catch up and enjoy the fullbenefit of the 10% restoration.

A Rapid Response Vehicles Group and Subcom-mittee was set up with an independent chair fol-lowing conciliation conferences. This group dealtwith the protocol regarding the use of this service.Although a document was agreed by group man-agement the protocol has yet to be implemented.

Retention of cardiac allowances in the North Eastfor members in patient transport services whomoved to Intermediate Care Vehicles (ICV) was re-ferred to the Workplace Relations Commission.The case was successful for this group. Unfortu-nately, the overall claim for those members whodid not receive the allowance since 2012 was re-jected on the grounds that it was a cost increasingclaim under the Haddington Road agreement andwas also precluded under the FEMPI legislation.

We held our National Ambulance Service Strategyconference in Dublin in March 2016. Representa-tives from all around the country attended. Weidentified several outstanding issues and a deci-sion was taken to seek sanction to ballot for indus-trial/strike action due to the failure ofManagement and the HSE to resolve several out-standing matters.

The main issues were:


• Publication of the long-awaited Capacity Review on the National Ambulance Service.

• Full implementation of Labour Court Recommendation LCR20313 covering compensation for loss of earnings.

• Full implementation of LCR20313 on staffing the intermediate care service.

• Meaningful engagement and discussions on an annualised hours system as allowed for under PSA agreements.

• Review of the roles and responsibilities of all grades within the Ambulance Service.

Briefings of members on our campaign took placeall over the country and they fully supported a callfor a national strike ballot.

Capacity ReviewThe first success for our national campaign was thepublication of the long-awaited Capacity Reviewfollowing the decision to hold a national strike bal-lot of all members.

Our campaign started off in 2014 with our col-leagues in the Dublin Fire Brigade making a sub-mission to a hearing of the Joint OireachtasCommittee on Health. Our submission outlinedwhat was required for a properly staffed servicewith the resources needed to meet its responsibil-ities, including issues such as response times inrural and urban areas. HIQA issued its own reportbefore the National Capacity review and reportwas issued by the Minister.

Intermediate care serviceAgreement was reached on the introduction ofthis important service, which dealt with inter hos-pital transfers and other issues, to free up ambu-lance crews to deal with emergency calls.

This was the subject of Labour Court Recommen-dation LCR20313. The Court stated that, due tosavings made by the removal of specific overtimeand work practices, management should have theservice fully operational within two years of thedate of the recommendation, which was issued inJuly 2012. Despite ongoing discussions since thenmanagement only put in place resources allowingfor approximately 150 staff to be employed. Thiswas depleted when members in the IntermediateCare Vehicle service went for training as Para-medics. The numbers required to run the serviceshould be over 440. Lack of funding and staffmeans that private ambulance companies are mak-

ing huge profits at the expense of the tax payer.Approval was sought for an additional 150 postsbetween now and the end of 2018 to provide over300 posts for the ICS service. If the engagementof acute hospitals currently underway results inearlier extra resources the figure of 150 will be re-alised sooner. Continuous dialogue will take placeto link capacity with demand for this service.

National Transfer PolicyWe agreed in 2015 on a national transfer policyfollowing several years of discussions.

We have a small group dealing with this matterwith management, including Peter Ray, Chairper-son/Shop Steward of the IARC and Ted Kenny in-dustrial organiser. It is a slow process, compoundedby the fact that no local manager will agree to re-lease staff until they are back filled by other staff, in-cluding those coming out of training. On the matterof un-rostered staff, management are looking at aproposal where they may be able to get them backto their Health Board area. We are awaiting theirproposal which will be discussed by the IARC. Wehave also raised the matter of the National Ambu-lance Service hiring staff locally rather than nation-ally, as at present.

Management has confirmed it has received fund-ing for an additional 96 paramedics and 36 ICOstaff for 2016.

Maternity Policy within the ServiceA sub group was set up to look at the difficultiesposed for female members within the service dur-ing pregnancy. The group concluded a policy inconformity with HSE policy.

Filling of Leading Emergency Medical Technician(LEMT) positionsOver 70 positions on LEMT panels remained va-cant. These panels are in place since the embargoand the FEMPI legislation. We referred the matterto the Work Place Relations Commission andagreement was reached on filling them. Despitethat agreement, management informed the unionthat it cannot obtain funding to fill these positions.The matter was referred to the WRC under out-standing national issues, as was allowed for in ourAugust 2016 WRC agreement.

Loss of Earnings following LCR 20313, LCR20002and LCR20456:• Payments for loss of earnings will be made


in line with figures as per the National Ambulance Service validation process. The HSE and NAS committed to address the remaining outstanding areas throughout the country and these payments will be completed in August/ September 2016 in line with payroll schedules.

• In regard to Naas, due to the absence of information on loss of earnings, the parties agreed to a method for calculating them.

• A joint review process to clarify loss of earnings parameters was set up and a first meeting has taken place.

• Independent adjudication was agreed for matters in dispute. Regarding other actual loss claims under LCR 20002 and LCR20456, management committed to payments being finalised in October/ November 2016. Again,issues in dispute would be the subject of adjudication. Unfortunately, management did not meet the deadline and these issues remained unresolved in 2016

Given the slow progress since the issuing of theabove recommendation we put management onnotice in the summer of 2016 that we were goingto ballot members for industrial/strike action.

Only after this did management start to engage isa serious manner. A sub group was set up to over-see the claims from our members. Its recommen-dation was issued in July 2012.

The parties agreed to appoint Mr Ray McGee as anadjudicator for both individual cases and generalmatters concerning what exactly was covered bythe Labour Court Recommendations.

Rest PeriodsThis matter is at IARC level and, following severalmeetings with management nationally, no agree-ment was reached.

Management stated that the 11 hours’ compensa-tory rest periods must be agreed with the em-ployer. Management proposed the followingoptions:

• Owe hours back.

• Offset hours from O/T paid. This meant that thehours members would owe management could betaken from the hours they worked over their shiftfinishing times, which would be paid at over timerates.

Shift Pay while on sick leaveThis matter was the subject of dispute betweenthe union and management in the South. The mat-ter was referred to the WRC, where no progresswas made and then on to the Labour Court. Thematter is now back in the WRC as it has nationalimplications. Some areas pay the shift when staffare out sick and others do not. Different criteriaappear to apply to the payment in different areas.We are awaiting a date for the WRC meeting.

Core rosteringAt present core rostering exists in the North Westand the North East. Management decided to ex-tend the system to the Midlands, South and theEast. Management met with the various groups ofrepresentatives and officials in the above areas.Members were conscious of the fact that theNorth-East system created serious problems forstaff as it was badly managed. In the North Westdedicated persons were assigned to the manage-ment of the system which proved to be a verygood system.

The matter of core rostering was the subject of aconciliation conference at the WRC for the threeareas above. SIPTU wants one system, properlymanaged and resourced across these areas.

Officers Grades NASThere were two issues referred to the WRC:

• National Recruitment decided to stand downpanels that were in place to fill officers’ positions.At conciliation in the WRC, it was agreed thatposts would be filled by local and national com-petition by May 2017. It was also agreed to con-tinue utilising the transfer policy to allow existinggrade holders move location if required as part ofthe process to fill posts.

• The North East area unilaterally changed workpractices which we believe should be dealt withat national level. SIPTU is still awaiting the publi-cation of the Mazars report regarding change tomanagement structures within the NAS. Our mem-bers feel that management is trying to implementchange before the report is released.

• We also met Management and HR on various na-tional issues which will be part of our agenda fordiscussions when the national report (Mazars?) isreleased.

Members voted by over 92% to take strike actionover management’s failure to implement the WRC


brokered agreement and this was served onmanagement for August 2016. A working groupwas established to deal with matters of nationalinterest involving the National Ambulance serv-ice.

It was agreed that a representative of the WRCwould chair this working group. In light of thisproposal, SIPTU agreed to suspend its strike ac-tion indefinitely. The proposals were agreed bya ballot of members. We again had to threaten aballot for action to get various matters movingand the WRC agreement of August 2016 imple-mented.

Numerous meetings took place with the nationalcommittees, management and human resources.SIPTU organisers, including our Divisional Organ-iser Paul Bell, addressed the issues in dispute. Lit-tle or no progress was reported and the partieswere invited to attend the WRC. Following in-tense discussions, a proposal was tabled by AnnaPerry, Director of Conciliation Services.

The proposals addressed all the issues in disputeas follows:

Annualised HoursThe parties agreed to establish a specific work-ing group to scope out and explore the conceptof annualised hours as a potential future optionfor the National Ambulance Service rosteringarrangements, in line with the provisions of thePublic Service Stability Agreement 2013-2016and Haddington Road Agreement. It was agreedthat an independent chairperson would facilitatethe work of this group, that the NAS annualisedhours working group would have formal terms ofreference which provided the framework andtime lines within which the group would operate,and that the process would commence on the 1October, 2016, to be finalised no later than theend of February 2017.

Capacity ReviewThis review recognised the requirements overthe coming years for 461 additional posts tomeet service demands. It is recognised thatmeeting staffing deficits will be addressed on aphased basis up to December 2021. NAS man-agement is to seek dedicated funding as part ofthe estimates processes with the relevant par-ties, including the HSE and the Department ofHealth. The HSE confirmed its commitment to im-plement the capacity review and to implementthe action plan published in May 2016, including

the recommendations in the capacity and 2014HIQA reviews.

A forum is to be set up comprising NAS manage-ment, SIPTU, and the HSE to oversee the imple-mentation of the capacity review report. Termsof reference were to be agreed and a target dateof September 2016. The forum had yet to be es-tablished at the end of 2016.

As the forum had yet to be established, the pro-posed progress report for the WRC was notcompleted by the agreed deadline of 30 Sep-tember 2016.

Non-Rostered staffManagement committed to engaging in a pro-gramme of action to address outstanding issuesfrom a short term and long term perspective toimprove engagement processes between theparties. As part of this process the managementof rostering arrangements in the case of non-ros-tered staff was identified as a priority matter withthe ambition of addressing the issue by Decem-ber 2016, but agreement had not been reachedby the end of 2016.

National IssuesA working group was established to deal withmatters of national interest involving the NationalAmbulance service.

A representative of the WRC would chair thisworking group.

The WRC is currently dealing with the followingoutstanding issues:

• Filling of LEMT panels which were referred toRay McGee as facilitator.

• Filling of officer positions referred to concilia-tion on which a proposal letter issued.

• Core rostering discussions continued and abes t practice document from management isawaited.

Green Hours • Despite numerous meetings, the matter of ourmembers paying back hours if they were ros-tered properly by management ended up in theWRC on two occasions and remained unre-solved.• Rest periods• Deployment points.


ALLIED HEALTH PROFESSIONALSIt is important at the outset of this report to recog-nise the important contribution of our memberswithin the local workplace and indeed the localrepresentatives who support them on a dailybasis. While it is not possible to reflect the fullamount of work undertaken by colleagues atworkplace level, it is important that this work isrecognised and greatly acknowledged as essentialto the success of the Division.

I would also like to take the opportunity of thank-ing our national Allied Health Professional sectorcommittee and national executive committee forradiographers and radiation therapists for theircontinued support.

Haddington Road/Lansdowne Road AgreementsAt the outset of this report, it is important to notethe role of our members and shop stewards in thecontinued implementation of the HaddingtonRoad and Lansdowne Road Agreements. Issuessuch as revised rosters, extended day working, re-deployment and the impact of the developmentof hospital groups and community care areas(CHO) are just some examples of the significantwork undertaken. In addition, SIPTU played amajor role in seeking to assist dispute resolutionthrough Joint Review Groups (JRG), independentarbitration, the Health Service and referrals to theWorkplace Relations Commission (WRC) andLabour Court.

National Joint Council (NJC)/Joint InformationConsultation Forum (JICF)SIPTU continued to participate at the highest levelof industrial relations within the health servicethrough the National Joint Council and Joint Infor-mation Consultation Forum. National issues of dis-pute are referred to the National Joint Council andSIPTU has an effective track record in securing pro-gression of issues to the satisfaction of our mem-bers.

Policies and Procedures (Sub-committee of theNational Joint Council)SIPTU maintained its role on the Policies and Pro-cedures sub-committee of the National JointCouncil. In line with agreed procedures, all pro-posed policies or indeed those subject to revieware referred to the national sub-committee forconsultation with the health service staff panel.

CORU2015 represented a significant year for our mem-bers in radiography and radiation therapy as allprofessionals were subject to compulsory registra-tion with CORU as of the 1st November 2015. Therate of registration is €100 per year under theterms of the Lansdowne Road Agreement. In ad-dition, given the CPD requirements for continuedregistration, SIPTU initiated a review of options toensure support for members in attaining it. Regis-trant professions with CORU currently include ra-diographers, radiation therapists, dieticians,occupational therapists, speech and languagetherapists, social workers, dispensing opticiansand optometrists.

Eligibility Criteria SIPTU has engaged with the HSE at national levelto revise eligibility criteria for all grades within ra-diography and radiation therapy to ensure thatthey are adapted to include all state registrationrequirements.

Department of Health SIPTU corresponded with the Minister for Health’soffice to progress the proposed advancement ofrole development within radiography and radia-tion therapy as provided for within the EmergencyDepartment Taskforce Report April 2015. An initialresponse was received from the Minister’s officeand this remains a key target for our sector.

National Radiography Review (LCR 20232)Following the completion of a national question-naire in 2016 reviewing the implementation ofLCR20232, SIPTU and the HSE have engaged toagree a document which will confirm the findingsof the review undertaken and challenges to be ad-dressed. The review identified that the provisionof CT on-call services was coming under increas-ing pressure throughout the country due to the ef-fects of the revised pay rates. It also identified thata number of hospitals had negotiated localiseddeals in excess of the Labour Court recommenda-tion. Time off in recognition of the commitment tomeet the demand for on-call services was the mainbasis of localised deals being made.

Radiography Management StructuresSIPTU and the HSE initiated a process to reviewManagement Structures within radiology to ensurethat they are fit for purpose, given the formationof hospital groups. SIPTU found that some hospitalgroups were seeking to install new ManagementStructures without any additional remuneration or


negotiated Terms and Conditions of employment.These were subsequently withdrawn.

Radiation Therapy Compensation ProcessThe compensation process for radiation therapistsLCR20545 was progressed under the independentchairmanship of Mr Ciaran Ryan. Out of approxi-mately 200 radiation therapists nationally, 21sought final binding arbitration appeals. 19 weremembers of SIPTU and were supported by theHealth Division.

Private HospitalsGiven the significant challenges arising within theprivate healthcare system, SIPTU Health was to thefore in seeking to support our members through avariety of issues raised. Matters such as the imple-mentation of the Haddington and LansdowneRoad Agreements were progressed within a num-ber of private hospital groups. Equally, the reviewof defined benefit pension schemes within someof the private healthcare employments were ad-vanced.

Job EvaluationIn line with the public service agreement, the re-instatement of the job evaluation scheme for cler-ical/admin grades is provided for within theLansdowne Road Agreement to be restarted. Par-ties confirmed priority would be afforded to thosewho have outstanding claims, arbitration recom-mendations or who lost out as a result of the pre-vious closure of the scheme. The scheme will besubject to a similar process as was undertaken inthe previous scheme in 2007.

Holiday PremiumSIPTU attended conciliation on the dispute relat-ing to the formula to calculate holiday premium.SIPTU identified that an incorrect formula wasbeing used and staff were not receiving their enti-tlement as a result with a reduction of up to a thirdlikely. The HSE subsequently corrected the formulabut the issue of retrospection remained outstand-ing.

Phlebotomy Training CourseThe SIPTU Health and Social Care Sector was tothe fore at highlighting the threat to funding of thephlebotomy training course for 2014/2015. Thiscourse has been traditionally provided through thenational ambulance service training college and isfunded by the HSE. SIPTU raised our concerns

through the national joint council to confirm theneed for secured funding to be allocated for thisimportant course. Approximately 60 phle-botomists are trained through the college eachyear and are predominantly employed through theacute hospital network. Following an extensivecampaign by SIPTU, the HSE established a nationalworking group to review the training needs forphlebotomy services within the public health sys-tem. SIPTU was a member of this national groupand sought to ensure that sufficient resources areprovided to meet the needs of the service. Thisgroup met on a number of occasions and devel-oped a national questionnaire which sought toidentify existing and future needs for phlebotomytraining within the public health system. Arisingfrom the completion of the information gatheringexercise, a national report was prepared which in-cluded recommendations on the need to developand protect a structured training programme toprovide for the needs of phlebotomy training serv-ices in the future. The report was presented to theChair of the National CEOs Committee, ColetteCowan and the National Director of Acute HospitalServices, Liam Woods. It is expected that eachhospital group or groups will now co-ordinatetheir own needs for the training of phlebotomistswithin their service.

SIPTU Health CPD DaySIPTU sponsored a very successful ContinuousProfessional Development course for radiogra-phers and radiation therapists in June 2016. Thiscourse is designed to assist members meet thechallenges of attaining CPD in order to meet thedemands of their professional registration.

Public Analyst LaboratoriesConciliation on a disputed pay anomaly within thesame grade of the three public analyst laboratoriesin Dublin, Cork and Galway concluded in late 2015.This arose from a Labour Court recommendationwhich recommended direct engagement to ad-dress the pay anomaly through which staff work-ing for the same employer, at the same grade, maybe on different pay scales depending on your lo-cation. Agreement was reached which affordedfull support for senior technicians to undertake afunded master degree qualification with paidleave included. The proposals were accepted byour members by secret ballot.


Agency Staff SIPTU engaged with the HSE to ensure that anyidentified issues of concern re parity of pay foragency staff are addressed. Separately, a numberof regions within the HSE have conducted a pro-gramme to convert existing long term agencyposts to directly employed contracts.

National Recruitment ServiceSIPTU challenged the HSE proposal to conduct na-tional interviews for radiographers in the firstmonths of 2015 without a recruitment mechanismfor the timeframe when graduates are leaving theirstudies. SIPTU stated that we believe this is adetrimental step against securing viable employ-ment for our graduates in the public health serv-ice. Following a meeting, the HSE confirmed itsintent that annual recruitment campaigns wouldbe initiated by the national recruitment service toensure that all graduates would be afforded an op-portunity of applying for work within our healthsystem. Separately, SIPTU corresponded with thenational recruitment service to highlight the use ofincorrect eligibility criteria for various posts withinour represented grades. On notice of same, thenational recruitment service re-commenced thecampaigns with the nationally agreed criteria forthe post advertised.

Radiation Therapy Management StructureManagement within the St Luke’s Hospital Net-work proposed to introduce a revised manage-ment structure within radiation therapy services.SIPTU sought to ensure that any proposed changeto existing management structures would maintainthe need for a recognised radiation therapy quali-fication. This matter was concluded successfully.

Community Health Organisations (CHO)SIPTU partook in a WRC facilitated process tovoice our concerns at the failure of the HSE to en-gage all unions in the formation of CHO areas. Thisis a major issue as CHO areas will be all serviceswithin health, outside of the acute hospital net-works.

Injury at Work GrantSIPTU was party to a national review of the injuryat work grant within the HSE. The review is con-tinuing and will look at the mechanism of ‘degreeof impairment’ which is used by the HSE in deter-mining the level of an allowance to be paid. In ad-dition, focus will be applied to the provision of thegrant to members of the Single Pension Schemefor New Entrants.

Regularisation of Long Term Acting In line with commitments within the HRA, theprocess of binding arbitration for claims of regu-larisation of long term acting were concludedunder the independent chairmanship of Mr JohnDoherty. SIPTU understands that this process wascompleted with over 800 individual casesprocessed.

Standardisation of Annual LeaveSIPTU engaged with a number of hospitals whowere applying the national standardised annualleave agreement incorrectly. The standardisationof annual leave is provided for within HSE Circular05/2009 and 05A/2009. Within each of the ex-amples received, members were not receiving theappropriate level of annual leave and were entitledto a rise in leave and arrears for days owing. All is-sues identified were subsequently addressed tothe satisfaction of members.

Pathology Technicians A number of issues were progressed for membersincluding regularisation of long term acting andseeking minimum staffing levels in order to ad-dress health & safety concerns.

PRSI MisclassificationA national protocol was agreed to address out-standing issues relating to the misclassification ofPRSI within the health service.

Dignity at WorkA national review on the dignity at work policywithin the health service was initiated. The specifictarget of the review is to look at measures whichwill assist in the addressing of concerns at as localand as low level as possible, without recourse forformal intervention. Following a national tenderingprocess, specialist training was initiated in a num-ber of pilot sites for staff with a view to a furtherroll out within the health service.

Safeguarding PolicySIPTU met with the HSE at national level in orderto progress concerns of our members relating tothe implementation of the Safeguarding Vulnera-ble Persons policy. It is important to state thatconcerns expressed are not in relation to the pur-pose of the policy but more that the HSE did notengage with the group of trade unions in advanceof publishing it. This is a significant issue in thatthere is a distinct misunderstanding within the sys-tem of the intent of the policy and indeed issues


arising for staff from same, such as line managementresponsibilities and the continued use of the ‘Trust inCare’ policy. The matter was subsequently referredto the Workplace Relations Commission.

Performance AchievementAs to the drafting of this report, SIPTU has suspendedits co-operation with the proposed performanceachievement policy for the health services. This sus-pension is in line with other colleague trade unionsfrom the staff panel of unions within the health serv-ice. This suspension arises from the failure of the HSEto advance important outstanding commitments tothe trade unions as provided for within the nationalagreement (PSA).

Local ReviewsThrough agreement with the HSE, a number of inde-pendent appointed expert reviews of radiology serv-ices within the HSE were initiated. The reviewsexamined existing staffing levels and the growingservice demand expected of staff within the nomi-nated facilities. Following each independent review,appointed experts presented their findings and rec-ommendations within a comprehensive report.

National Radiology Rates for On-CallSIPTU identified a number of locations within thehealth service which were not affording the correctrates to Radiographers providing on-call service andwho were either on parental leave or reduced hourcontracts. National HSE agreed with SIPTU the cor-rect interpretation of the rates to be applied andeach location identified was assessed to ensure com-pliance with the national rates for service, with anyarrears owing.

Code of ConductSIPTU received a draft Code of Conduct from the De-partment of Health and was intended to apply to allstaff. SIPTU undertook a review of the draft to ensurethat there is no conflict arising for staff who are sub-ject to state registration, including existing regula-tory conduct policies.

National Sick Leave ReviewSIPTU partook in the national review of the sick leavescheme within the public service. Representatives ofall sectors of the public service are involved withSIPTU as a key member of the ICTU Public ServiceCommittee delegation. Matters focused on the ap-plication of Temporary Rehabilitation Pay and theCritical Illness Protocol.

Recruitment Policy (HSE)A dispute relating to the policy of the HSE on recruit-ment was referred to the Workplace Relations Com-mission (WRC). This dispute arose given the failureof the HSE to engage with trade unions on a decisionto cease recruitment and in effect mandatorily enforce a recruitment pause. SIPTU had maintainedits opposition to this initiative and highlighted the increasing reliance on the use of agency staff.

Garda VettingSIPTU attended a national meeting regarding themechanism for Garda Vetting within the health service. The HSE advised that, due to pending legislative changes, the process for Garda Vettingmay become more complex. Existing staff may besubject to Garda Vetting in light of pending changesbeing introduced by legislation.

Performance AchievementSIPTU suspended its co-operation with the proposedperformance achievement policy for the health serv-ices. This suspension is in line with other trade unionsfrom the staff panel of unions within the health serv-ice. This suspension arises from the failure of the HSEto advance important outstanding commitments tothe trade unions as provided for within the nationalagreement (PSA).

Assimilation Rule on Temporary AssignmentArising from the implementation of an agreementunder Haddington Roadt, the use of ‘acting’ arrange-ments within the Health Service has been removed.Instead, temporary contracts on the higher pay scaleshould be used for the filling of temporary vacancies.An issue of dispute arose at national level re the ap-propriate rule to use upon assimilation to the highergrade. This could not be resolved through direct en-gagement or through conciliation and was referredto the Labour Court. The Labour Court issued its rec-ommendation to confirm that the pre-existingarrangement for temporary assignments should bere-instated.

Relevant HSE HR CircularsSIPTU Health is a key member of the national reviewcommittee for policies and procedures within thehealth service. Amongst the circulars introduced/re-viewed, they included:

201502/2015: Supervision Guidelines for HSCP

05/2015: New Entrant Salary Recognising Previous EU Service


018/2015: Subsistence Allowance

024/2015: Pregnancy Related Sick Leave Provisions

028/2015: FEMPI and Lansdowne Road Agreement Provisions

029/2015: Extension of Grace Period Superannuation Pension Scheme

2016001/2016: Increase in State Pension

002/2016: Expiry of Increment Measures under HRA

008/2016: Assimilation for Temporary Assignment

009/2016: New restriction re calculation of pension benefits

014/2016: Job Evaluation Scheme 2016

017/2018: Increase in 1st point of trainee phlebotomist scale arising from increase in Minimum Wage

018/2016: Temporary Contracts for posts of a higher grade

NURSE AND MIDWIFE SECTOR

We would like to take this opportunity to thankour national nurse and midwife sector committeeand local representative committees for their con-tinued support. While it is not always possible toacknowledge adequately the tremendous amountof work undertaken by our colleagues at work-place level, it is important that it be recognised inthe report for our Biennial Conference, 2017. Weare very grateful for their vital contribution to theunion and welcome the opportunity to do so pub-licly.

This report will highlight some of the key initiativesundertaken on behalf of our nurse and midwifemembers.

Haddington Road/Lansdowne Road AgreementsAt the outset, it is important to note the role of ourmembers and shop stewards through the contin-ued implementation of the Haddington RoadAgreement. Issues such as revised rosters, ex-tended day working, redeployment and the im-pact of the development of hospital groups and

community care areas (CHO) are just some exam-ples of the significant work being undertaken. Inaddition, SIPTU has played a major role in seekingto assist dispute resolution through Joint ReviewGroups (JRG), independent arbitration, the HealthService Oversight Body and referrals to the Work-place Relations Commission (WRC) and LabourCourt.

National Joint Council (NJC)/Joint InformationConsultation Forum (JICF)SIPTU Health has continued to participate at thehighest level of industrial relations within thehealth service through the National Joint Counciland Joint Information Consultation Forum. Nationalissues of dispute are referred to the National JointCouncil and SIPTU has an effective track record insecuring progression of issues to the satisfactionof our members.

Policies and Procedures (Sub-committee of theNational Joint Council)SIPTU Health has maintained its role on the Policiesand Procedures sub-committee of the NationalJoint Council. In line with agreed procedures, allproposed policies or indeed those subject to re-view are referred to the national sub-committeefor consultation with the health service staff panel.

Student Nurse Midwife PayApproval was received from the Department ofPublic Expenditure and Reform to increase the payduring the 36 week placement for nurses and mid-wives to 70% of starting salary. It was 53% follow-ing the cuts imposed by the Department of PublicExpenditure and Reform. In addition, from March2016, incremental credit was awarded to ap-pointed staff nurses and midwives for the 36 weekplacement. This placement is undertaken duringthe 4th year of study. The student works on theward for the 36 week placement and is a full mem-ber of the nursing team.

NMBI RegistrationFollowing our successful campaign, SIPTU secureda reversal of a proposed annual retention fee in-crease to €150 for nurses and midwives. The cur-rent rate of €100 was maintained. This rate hasalso been protected under the terms of the Lans-downe Road Agreement until 2018.

NMBI ProjectsThe Nurse Midwife Board of Ireland advised SIPTU


of its intent to pursue a revised policy for safemedication management. The Board also advisedthat other projects would include, review of thescope of nursing and midwifery practice frame-work, review of the standards and requirementsfor nurse registration education programmes, re-view of the standards and requirements for themidwife registration programme, review of thepractice standards for midwives and review ofstandards and requirements for advanced prac-tice. The SIPTU Nurse and Midwife Sector activelyengaged with the regulator on all of these an-nounced review projects.

Taskforce Staffing Skill-MixApproval was received for the initiation of a pilotre the national taskforce for staffing and skill-mix.A fund of €2million was given to the pilot and wastrialled in three locations: Beaumont, St Colum-cille’s Hospital and Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital.The pilot was envisaged to take approximatelyone year from early 2016. The purpose of the pilotis to identify the effects of the recommendationsof the report from the taskforce prior to a nationalroll out. Full costings from this exercise will go to-wards a full funding model for the 2018 estimates.It is envisaged that other areas of service, such asmental health, will be progressed after this initia-tive.

Private Health ServiceSIPTU has continued to support our memberswithin all areas of the private health sector. Thisincludes private hospitals and nursing homes as anexample. The major issue has been protection ofdefined benefit pension schemes and the parallelimplementation of the Haddington Road/Lans-downe Road Agreements.

Community Health Organisations (CHO)SIPTU has partaken in a WRC facilitated process tovoice our concerns at the failure of the HSE to en-gage all unions in the formation of CHO areas. Thisis a major issue as CHO areas will involve all serv-ices within health, outside of the acute hospitalnetworks. SIPTU was the first union to formallyraise our concerns, in early 2015, with the failureof the HSE to engage in advance of the change tostructures being implemented. The WRC hasagreed to chair a consultative forum in whichSIPTU will be a major stakeholder.

Measurement of Nursing HoursIn line with commitments recorded within the Pub-lic Service Agreement, SIPTU is engaging with theHSE in agreeing a process to ensure all workinghours are measured for nursing grades. This is astated commitment within the HRA. This is a sig-nificant issue given that the unions believe not allworking hours are counted, yet the employer de-mands evidence of nurses and midwives working39hours per week.

Nurse Medical InterfaceSIPTU Nursing and Midwifery played a full role atlocal and national level with the implementation ofthe national nursing medical interface agreementbetween nursing and medical staff. Arising fromthe agreement, reinstatement of the unsocialhours premium was secured from 1st January 2016for the acute hospital sector. This allowanceequates to approximately two per cent of income.Immediate engagement took place, and this initia-tive is to be extended to other sectors of thehealth service.

Nurse Midwife Board of Ireland (NMBI)In Mid-2016, SIPTU was invited to meet with thePresident of the NMBI in order to read the inde-pendently appointed review on governance of thenursing board. The review was conducted byCrowe Horwarth. The report was scathing on thefailure to have proper governance within theBoard. It highlighted improper tender processes,broken down relationships at board level and re-sources spent on questionable advisory services.

Graduate Nurse/Midwife Incremental Credit 2011-2015Following our campaign against the decision ofDPER to refuse to reinstate incremental credit forgraduate nurse/midwives 2011-2015, SIPTUHealth Division met with the Minister for HealthSimon Harris TD in March 2016 who confirmed thathe would reinstate same from 1st January 2017.This benefitted approximately 4000 nurses/mid-wives who graduated during this period at a costof approximately €4million.

Mental Health NursingFollowing extensive engagement at national level,a comprehensive set of proposals were negoti-ated in the summer of 2016 to address a numberof issues arising within mental health nursing re:


retention and recruitment. Within the proposalsthere was an agreement to restore a payment toreplace the community allowance formally paidwithin the service. This was removed, for new ben-eficiaries, as part of a review of allowances withinthe HSE in 2010. The allowance is worth nearly€5,500 per annum per qualifying nurse. In addi-tion, there are other proposals which are designedto support the recruitment and retention of nurseswithin mental health services.

Injury at Work GrantSIPTU was party to a national review of the injuryat work grant within the HSE. While the review isongoing, it will look at the mechanism of ‘degreeof impairment’ which is used by the HSE in deter-mining the level of an allowance to be paid, andalso the application of this benefit to staff who aremembers of the new Single Pension Scheme.

Maternity Services Review (Midland RegionalHospital Portlaoise)Terms of Reference were agreed in 2016 betweenthe HSE and the Group of Trade unions in regardto a proposed investigation into maternity serv-ices within the Midland Regional Hospital, Port-laoise. The investigation is being conducted byclinical experts and chaired by legal counsel.

Safeguarding PolicySIPTU met with the HSE at national level in orderto progress concerns of our members relating tothe implementation of the Safeguarding of Vulner-able Persons policy. It is important to state thatconcerns expressed are not in relation to the pur-pose of the policy but more that the HSE did notengage with the group of trade unions in advanceof publishing it. This is a significant issue in thatthere is distinct misunderstanding within the sys-tem of the intent of the policy and indeed issuesarising for staff from same, such as line manage-ment responsibilities and the continued use of the‘Trust in Care’ policy. The matter was referred tothe Workplace Relations Commission.

National Taskforces (Nursing/Midwifery)SIPTU Nursing nominated representatives to anumber of national taskforces established to re-view existing skill mix within the sectors. These in-clude palliative care, care of the older person,theatre, maternity and acute/surgical.

Mental Health Management StructuresSIPTU met with the HSE at national level in orderto advance an engagement on a proposed reviewof nurse management structures within mentalhealth services. Our members were keen for thisreview to be progressed given that the CHO areasare being developed and reporting relationshipsbeing reviewed. In addition, the current structurewas put in place in 2012 and members believe theexisting agreement was severely restrictive due tothe economic climate.

Care of the Older PersonEngagement at national level continued with theHSE re staffing/skill-mix in a care of the older per-son setting. No agreement has been reached anda referral back to the Workplace Relations Com-mission was made.

Dignity at WorkA national review of the dignity at work policywithin the health service was initiated. The specifictarget of the review was to look at measureswhich will assist in the addressing of concerns atas local and low a level as possible, without re-course for formal intervention. A pilot training pro-gramme was initiated in a number of sites and wasprovided by an independent external companythrough a tendering process.

Emergency DepartmentSIPTU participated in the parallel emergency de-partment process which was established underthe terms of the Workplace Relations Commissionproposals.

Peer Support WorkersSIPTU was invited to a meeting with HSE nationallyto discuss the proposed introduction of PeerWorkers within mental health services. A peerworker is someone who has successfully beentreated within the service and can provide a pos-itive support to patients. It was originally pro-posed that this worker would be part of thenursing team, however, SIPTU was informed thatthe role is likely to fall under the remit of SocialCare Professionals.

Performance AchievementSIPTU suspended its co-operation with the pro-posed performance achievement policy for thehealth services. This suspension is in line with


other colleague trade unions from the staff panelof unions within the health service. This suspensionarises from the failure of the HSE to advance im-portant outstanding commitments to the tradeunions as provided for within the national agree-ment (PSA).

Long Term Acting Appeals ProcessArising from commitments under the terms of theHaddington Road Agreement, an appeal processfor those who believed they are encompassed bythe terms for regularisation but have been deniedsame by the employer was initiated. These ap-peals were heard by a nationally agreed independ-ent chairman during late 2015 and early 2016. TheHSE and Group of Trade unions met with the inde-pendent chairman to discuss relevant criteria ap-plicable to the appeal process. Outcomes werebinding as per the terms of the public serviceagreement.

Return to Practice CircularSIPTU partook in a national review of the existingReturn to Practice Circular within the health serv-ice. This service commits to provide financial sup-port to nurses/midwives who are interested inreturning to practice. The revised circular re-com-mits to the financial supports available and alsoseeks to underpin the need for firmer commitmentfrom those who complete the course.

Assimilation Rule on Temporary AssignmentArising from the implementation of an agreementunder the Haddington Road Agreement, the useof ‘acting’ arrangements within the Health Servicehas been removed. Instead, temporary contractson the higher pay scale should be used for the fill-ing of temporary vacancies. An issue arose at na-tional level regarding the appropriate rule to usefor assimilation to the higher grade. This could notbe resolved through direct engagement orthrough conciliation and was referred to theLabour Court. The Labour Court issued its recom-mendation to confirm that the pre-existingarrangement for temporary assignments should bere-instated.

Work-Placement Co-Ordinators Engagement was progressed to review the re-sponsibility of Garda Vetting for the placement ofstudent nurse and midwives within the service.The HSE had proposed that our members withinStudent Placement provide for this. However, they

were reluctant to accept the responsibility for val-idating same. Following an extensive process ofnegotiation, the HSE nationally has written to con-firm that the responsibility for Garda Vetting is notthe responsibility of work-placement co-ordina-tors and should fall to the local HR office.

Holiday PremiumSIPTU attended conciliation on the dispute relat-ing to the formula to calculate holiday premium.SIPTU identified that an incorrect formula wasbeing used and staff were not receiving their enti-tlement. As a result, a reduction of up to a third oncorrect rates were likely. The HSE subsequentlycorrected the formula but the issue of retrospec-tion remained outstanding.

Code of ConductSIPTU received a draft Code of Conduct from theDepartment of Health which is intended to applyto all staff. SIPTU reviewed the draft to ensure thatthere is no conflict arising for staff who are subjectto state registration, including existing regulatoryconduct policies.

National Sick Leave ReviewSIPTU Health is partaking in the national review ofthe sick leave scheme within the public service.Representatives of all sectors of the public serviceare involved with SIPTU, a key member of the ICTUPublic Service Committee delegation. SIPTU raiseda number of issues such as inconsistency of ap-proach regarding the application of TemporaryRehabilitation Pay and Critical Illness Protocol. Wehave also sought to ensure that protected meas-ures for pregnancy related illness are maintained.

Eligibility CriteriaRevised eligibility criteria for the post of Area Di-rector of Nursing, Group Director, Director and As-sistant Directors of nursing have been agreed. Therevised criteria places an essential need for quali-fications/experience in management as well as innursing. These criteria were forwarded for consid-eration of our sector committee and were unani-mously approved.

Garda VettingSIPTU attended a national meeting regarding themechanism for Garda Vetting within the healthservice. The HSE advised that, due to pending leg-islative changes, the process for Garda Vettingmay become more complex. The new legislation


will provide for the need of Garda Vetting for ex-isting staff who are working with some categoriesof service user.

International Nurse Recruitment (UK)SIPTU was invited to partake in a group to recommend a package which would assist in high-lighting the benefit of retention of nurse/midwifeswithin our health system and also terms which couldbe applied to nurses/midwives returning from over-seas. Upon completion of the process, SIPTU main-tained our concern that the campaign would notsucceed in securing a return of nurses and midwivesto Ireland given it remained uncompetitive againstUK employers, or indeed private hospitals in Ireland.The return from the campaign was poor as was ex-pected and highlighted by SIPTU.

Nurse Management StructuresSIPTU has continued to engage on proposedchanges to nurse management structures within anumber of settings within the health service.

Theatre on CallThe HSE/Dept. of Health proposed significantchanges to the existing pay arrangements for The-atre on Call. SIPTU rejected the proposals receivedon the basis that a national agreement for the pro-vision of the service is already in place.

Agency Staff SIPTU engaged with the HSE to ensure that anyidentified issues of concern re parity of pay foragency staff are addressed. Separately, a numberof regions within the HSE have conducted a pro-gramme to convert existing long term agencyposts to directly employed contracts.

Linking Service and SafetySIPTU Nursing and Midwifery contributed to thework of this national group to review the LinkingService & Safety Policy within the health service.

HSE HR CircularsSIPTU Health is a key member of the national re-view committee for policies and procedureswithin the health service. Amongst the circulars in-troduced/reviewed, they included:

2015

005/2015: New entrant salary scale followingprevious EU experience

006/2015: Extension of Grace Period for payment of pension

008/2015: Sponsorship of Student Public Health Nurses

009/2015: New Public Health Nurse Transfer Policy

010/2015: Amended Compliance NMBI Registration

024/2015: Pregnancy Related Sick Leave

026/2015: Return to Practice Financial Support

028/2015: Implementation of Lansdowne RoadAgreement

029/2015: Further Extension of Grace Period forPayment of Pension

2016

001/2016: Increase in State Pension

002/2016: Expiry of Increment Measures underHRA

003/2016: Transfer of Tasks

005/2016: Revised salary scales for student

nurses

008/2016: Assimilation for Temporary Assign-

ment

009/2016: New restriction re calculation of pen-

sion benefits

012/2016: Allowance re Working in the Commu-

nity Nursing Mental Health

013/2016: Return to Work: Mental Health

015/2016: Transfer of Tasks II

016/2016: Incremental Credit 36 week place-

ment

018/2016: Temporary Contracts for posts of a

higher grade

1 More information in HCA Sector report


The Biennial Delegate Conference took place inLiberty Hall, Dublin on Thursday, 3rd and Friday,4th November 2016.

A total of 220 accredited Delegates attended, representing the three Sectors within the Division.

Financial Membership

SECTORS 2016 2015 Inc/DecAgriculture, Ingredients, Food & Drink 11,964 11,912 52

Electronics, Engineering & Industrial Production 9,885 9,932 -47

Pharmaceuticals, Chemicals & Medical Devices 11,765 11,224 541

33,614 33,068 546

The following nine Motions were considered at theConference and passed by the delegates present.

Motion No. 1European Office In view of the changes facing the European unionand considering the treatment of workers’ rightsand terms and conditions across the EU this Con-ference calls on the National Executive Council toopen serious discussions through the ICTU on thefeasibility of a permanent presence being estab-lished by the Irish Trade union Movement in Brus-sels at the heart of the EU in order to adequatelyrepresent Irish workers at the Commission and theother institutions.Submitted by the Agriculture, Ingredients, Food& Drinks Sector.

Motion No. 2Income for a Surviving SpouseConference notes that moving from two pensionsto one after the death of a spouse creates financialdifficulty for the surviving spouse as income is re-duced but bills and financial obligations mostly re-main the same. The Retired Members Section ofSIPTU therefore calls on conference to recognisethis and to support a call for the following for sur-viving spouses:

For all means test and medical card assessmentsto be carried out based on the income of the sur-viving spouse. This would mean the introductionof a decent threshold of savings for exclusion fromthe means test to enable the surviving spouse tolive with some financial security.

The exclusion from Water Charges and PropertyTax on the family home following the death of aspouse.Submitted by the Retired Members Section

Motion No. 3Unfair Dismissals ActThat Conference calls on the NEC to initiate a cam-paign to amend the Unfair Dismissal Act to providethe same protection for Shop Stewards in cases ofunfair dismissal as is provided under the IndustrialRelations (Amendment) Act (2015). A more severepenalty should be provided where workers’elected representatives are found by a third partyto have been unfairly dismissed.

Submitted by the Executive Divisional Committee

Motion No. 4Parental Leave ActThat this Conference calls on the National Execu-tive to initiate a campaign to raise the age limit inthe Parental Leave Act from eight years of age to13 years of age.

Submitted by the Executive Divisional Committee.

Manufacturing

Division


Motion No. 5Precarious Work That this Conference calls on the National Execu-tive Council and the Manufacturing Division to im-plement an All-Ireland campaign with the intentionof eliminating all forms of precarious work such asZero Hours contracts and “If and When” contracts.The campaign should have a dual focus of regular-ising and improving conditions of employment forworkers on such contracts and organising youngerworkers into the union. Submitted by the Pharmaceutical, Chemical &Medical Devices Sector.

Motion No. 6Living WageThat this Conference calls on the Manufacturing Di-vision to undertake a comprehensive review ofrates of pay in the Division with a view to identify-ing sections of workers that are not currently onthe living wage of €11.50 per hour and to com-mence a campaign to bring these workers rates ofpay up to the living wage. Submitted by the Pharmaceutical, Chemical &Medical Devices Sector.

Motion No. 7Food Workers Apprentice SchemeThat this Conference calls on the National Execu-tive council to campaign on the establishment ofa Food Workers Apprentice Scheme

This Conference highlights the importance of theFood and Drink Industry to Ireland. This industry islocated in the Regions of Ireland and could be theengine of real economic development and recov-ery across Ireland. To that end SIPTU believes thatthe creation of good quality jobs with built in sus-tainability and security is the best route for creat-ing a sound economic basis for job creation andjob retention in the regions of Ireland. We see theestablishment of Food Workers Apprenticeshipsas an initiative that will create real careers for ouryoung people, who will be the inheritors of our tra-dition of organised workers with good terms andconditions in this industry. Submitted by the Agriculture, Ingredients, Food& Drinks Sector.

Motion No. 8Seasonal Workers – Hours of WorkThat Conference calls on the NEC to initiate a cam-paign for the introduction of flexi-security for parttime or seasonal workers who work less than 39hours over the normal (five day) working week,thereby entitling them to sign on for jobseekersbenefit based on their hours rather than dayswhen they may work for 4/5 days but less than 39hours.Submitted by the Executive Divisional Committee.

Motion No. 9Redundancy Payments ActThat this conference calls on the NEC to initiate acampaign to have the Redundancy Payments Acts1967-2001 amended in order to allow workerswho are on short time for over 1 year to claim theirstatutory redundancy and move on with their livesrather than be forced to live in penury and stay ina company for up to 8 years on short time as is thecase currently. Submitted by the Electronics, Engineering & Industrial Production Sector.

The Conference was addressed by a number ofSpeakers including –

Jack O’Connor, SIPTU General President.

Gene Mealy, SIPTU Vice President.

Joe O’Flynn, SIPTU General Secretary.

Patricia King, ICTU General Secretary.

Tish Gibbons, Head of SIPTU College.

Tony Murphy, IDEAS Institute.

Orlagh Fawl, Sector Organiser, Strategic Organis-ing Department.

Delegates attending the Conference took part inbreakout sessions to discuss and consider the‘Membership Consultation Initiative’.


DIVISIONAL COMMITTEE 2015-2016

The following were the elected Divisional Committee Members.

PresidentNoel Finn (Electronics, Engineering & IndustrialProduction Sector)

Vice PresidentRose O’Reilly (Agriculture, Ingredients, Food &Drink Sector)

Agriculture, Ingredients, Food & Drink SectorJohn MontgomeryJohn MortellMichael ToolanPat O’FlynnTim O’ConnorTom FoxTony Hogan

Electronics, Engineering & Industrial ProductionSectorBridget BurrowsFiona DohertyJohn LenihanPaudie PowerPaul KellySeamus CaliffSean Clarke

Pharmaceuticals, Chemicals & Medical DevicesSectorBrendan CreminEnda McDaidJemma MackeyMargaret McNulty

Retired MemberJerry O’ Callaghan

DIVISIONAL COMMITTEE (elected November 2016)

The following were the elected Divisional Committee Members.

PresidentNoel Finn (Electronics, Engineering & IndustrialProduction Sector)

Vice PresidentJemma Mackey (Pharmaceutical, Chemicals &Medical Devices Sector)

Agriculture, Ingredients, Food & Drink SectorLiz O’DonohoeMarija SmaizyteJohn MortellKarl SpellacyJames KennedyTom Fox

Electronics, Engineering & Industrial Production SectorPaudie PowerJohn LenihanBridget BurrowsFiona DohertyPaul KellyMary MullinAnja BoegerBridget Burrows

Pharmaceuticals, Chemicals & Medical Devices SectorPat DalyGale PrinceBrian Keating Enda McDaidPat DineenPat Perry

Retired MemberJerry O’Callaghan

Standing OrdersTony ByrneEamonn ThorntonPat O’FlynnMichael Toolan

National Executive CouncilElizabeth O’DonohoeJohn MontgomeryJemma MackeyRay Thompson

National TrusteeBridget Burrows


Equality Committee Sean ClarkeRose O’Reilly

SECTOR COMMITTEES

Agriculture, Ingredients, Food & Drink SectorCommittee Members for 2015-2016

Tony Hogan (Chairperson)Liz O’Donohoe (Vice Chairperson)Jack O’DonohueTom FoxJames KennedyJohn MontgomeryJohn MortellTim O’ConnorTom McPartlinPat O’FlynnRose O’ReillyLeonard TobinMichael ToolanKarl SpellacyEamonn HelfertyArita ViskontaiteNoeleen O’ConnellTommy NaughtonMarija SmaizyteJohn C Walsh

Pharmaceuticals, Chemicals & Medical DevicesSector Committee Members for 2015-2016

Jemma Mackey (Chairperson)Enda McDaid (Vice Chairperson)Aidan McDonnellBrendan CreminBrendan O’LearyBrian KeatingChristopher CrowleyCormac GriffinEamon ThorntonGale PrinceJim Fuery Kieran O’ConnorMichael O’SullivanPat PerryPat DalyPat Dineen

Electronics, Engineering & Industrial Production Sector Committee Members for2015-2016

Paul Kelly, Ex Officio MemberRayThompsonJohn DelaneySean ClarkeNoel Finn (Chairperson)Catherine Noonan WalshBridget Burrows (Vice Chairperson)Tom HealyFiona DohertyAnja BoegerRaymond HumphriesMary MullinPaul McGee Gerry ByrneShane O’Brien (*) In arrears removed from Committee

DIVISIONAL STAFF (currently)

Divisional Head OfficeDivisional Organiser: Gerry McCormackAdministrative Assistant: Tina Maguire SmithAssistant Industrial Organiser: Rhonda DonagheyAssistant Industrial Organiser: Colm Casserley

Agriculture, Ingredients, Food & Drinks SectorSector Organisers: Michael Browne.Administrative Assistants: Pauline Gilmartin, Joan McClean.Industrial Organisers: John Cooney, Frank Jones.Assistant Industrial Organisers: Terry Bryan,Denis Gormalley, Jim McVeigh.

Electronics, Engineering & Industrial Production SectorSector Organiser: John McCarrick.Administrative Assistant: Pat O’Malley.Assistant Industrial Organisers: Denis Sheridan,Mark Flynn, Ray Mitchell, Evelina Saduikyte, Joe Kelly.

Pharmaceuticals, Chemicals & Medical Devices SectorSector Organiser: Alan O’Leary.Administrative Assistant: Maire Sheehan.Industrial Organisers: Michelle Quinn.Assistant Industrial Organisers: Paul dePuis, AllenDillon, Jim Fuery, Asling Dunne.


Northern IrelandLead Organiser: Martin O’Rourke

Evelyn McGuinness, Location Based Organiser retired in November 2015.

John Dunne, Sector Organiser took up the position of General Secretary of the GuinnessStaff union.

Jim Finnegan, Industrial Organiser retired in November 2016.

Marie Kearney, Assistant Industrial Organiser retired in 2015.

ObituariesThe Manufacturing Divisional Committee wishesto extend its deepest sympathies to the familyand friends of deceased activists and members inthe Division, and to all union members who |suffered bereavements during 2015 and 2016.

DIVISIONAL DEVELOPMENTS2015-2016

The two years 2015 to 2016 were marked by sig-nificant successes across the manufacturing divi-sion in terms of the level and number of payincreases secured on behalf of our members. Mem-bership numbers stabilised during 2015 and in-creased during 2016 with the financialmembership increasing by 546 and the payingmembership increasing by 1,200 at the end of2016. The success of the Division is due to excel-lent staff and the calibre of our activists and shopstewards.

At the end of 2015 new legislation on CollectiveBargaining was enacted and the Manufacturing Di-vision had the very first case taken under the In-dustrial Relations (Amendment) Act 2015. TheDivision won a very important, and precedent set-ting recommendation on behalf of our members inFreshways Food Company. The Division hasrecorded 225 pay agreements during the periodunder review. Special mention is due to all our staffand activists for their work in improving the payand conditions of members. These agreements area great tribute to their professionalism and tenac-ity. As part of our pay strategy, SIPTU has devel-oped a centralised data-base recording all theseagreements. This information is critical for officialsand activists entering negotiations with employ-ers. We are also collecting details of pay and con-

ditions of employment for all sections across theDivision. This information is necessary in develop-ing claims under the new Collective Bargaininglegislation, and when pursuing claims in ongoingbargaining.

We continue to work with the Ideas Institute in re-gard to Workplace Innovation. The work of TonyMurphy has been extremely important in protect-ing jobs and enhancing workplace involvement bymembers.

The Division has developed strategies to supportmembers when their pension schemes are at-tacked by employers. The support structure isavailable to shop stewards and staff and allows ateam to be established to work through the issuesinvolved

In 2015 the Division identified the organisation ofmigrant workers and their integration into theunion structures as a critical development. During2015/2016 a number of conferences were held ofkey stakeholders, including our migrant activists.The Division, in conjunction with the Services Di-vision, has established a Migrants Network whichis designed to organise migrant workers and de-velop a structure for their representation in SIPTU.

We have also established a European WorksCouncil and a Health & Safety Network throughoutthe division in support of our members.

SECTOR DEVELOPMENTS

PHARMACEUTICALS, CHEMICALSAND MEDICAL DEVICES SECTOR

Greenfield Organising in the PharmaceuticalChemical and Medical Devices Sector

Over the past number of years, activists and staffof the Sector have been involved in an organisingcampaign in a large non-union US Multi-NationalCorporation (MNC) - GE Healthcare in Cork. Thissubsidiary is part of the General Electric Corpora-tion which is one of the top global MNC’s. Theunion in November 2010 won a Labour Court rec-ommendation which granted SIPTU the right torepresent our members on individual and collec-tive issues, however the employer refused to ac-cept this recommendation. In 2016 following a


1. Participants at the training of the SIPTU Migrant Workers Support Network.

2. Picket Line at Glen Electric, Newry.

3. The SIPTU Manufacturing Divisional Conference, 2016.

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2

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referral to the Labour Court under the new Indus-trial Relations (Amendment) Act 2015 and a sub-sequent threatened dispute, GE Healthcare seniormanagement agreed to engage in talks with theunion. The union in October 2016 negotiated anOrderly Dispute Resolution Framework whichrecognises SIPTU. Following a long and often dif-ficult campaign the breakthrough on the OrderlyDispute Resolution Framework agreement is a tes-tament to the perseverance, commitment and sol-idarity of the workers in GE Healthcare and theirwish for the union to strive for decent wages and

a brighter future for all SIPTU members. unionmembership is increasing steadily in the GEHealthcare Section. A new Greenfield organisingcampaign commenced in 2016 in Boston Scien-tific, Clonmel.

Industrial Dispute Activity Throughout 2015 and 2016 the Sector was in-volved in a series of six industrial disputes on awide range of industrial relations issues such asPensions, Pay Restoration, and Employer Breachesof Collective Agreements in Pfizer, GE Healthcare,

Pay Agreements negotiated during 2015 & 2016Average % increase = 5.3585%

Average months = 26.2174


Coty, Uniphar, Avara and Bausch & Lomb. All dis-putes were fully supported and sanctioned by theunion and all disputes were subsequently resolvedto the satisfaction of the members.

In Bausch & Lomb, Waterford members votedoverwhelmingly in favour of industrial action andstrike action in a major dispute on Pay Restorationwhich stemmed from major cuts to members’ pay,terms and conditions. Our members in Bausch &Lomb in December 2016 overwhelmingly ac-cepted WRC proposals on a 9.5% pay increasealong with improvements to annual leave, sick paybenefit and €500 lump sum. The WRC proposalsfully restored the cuts sacrificed by members in2014 and they were accepted by over 82% of themembership.

Since the acceptance of the WRC agreement, the11,000 square foot extension of the Waterford sitewas opened and over 200 new jobs have beencreated.

Sector Collaboration agreements with Universities The Sector had concluded a collaboration agree-ment with the University of Limerick and in 2016we engaged in negotiations with Waterford Insti-tute of Technology (WIT). Under these agree-ments, Sector representatives are invited to makepresentations to college students to share thepositive industrial activities of the union and theSector such as the Sector Stability and Pay agree-ments.

One Site One union - PCMD Sector & Services Division AgreementThe PCMD Sector Committee has agreed a collab-oration agreement with the Services Division ofthe union where our shop stewards and officials inthe Sector will collaborate with the Services Divi-sion activists and staff in recruiting new membersin contract catering and other grades employedin PCMD Sector union sites.

Many of these workers are paid low wages by thecontractor and are often too afraid to join theunion. The One Site One union initiative supportsunion solidarity across all grades in the workplaceand the PCMD Sector Committee fully supportsthis collaboration agreement.

ELECTRONICS, ENGINEERING &INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION SECTOR

Much, if not all of the Sector members work inwhat can now be described as old indigenous in-dustries with a minority fitting into the multi-na-tional criteria.

The Electronics side of the Sector has progressedwith most of the work being done for the car in-dustry.

There has been a significant squeeze on prices inthis industry with many of the major manufacturersdemanding year on year reductions in the pricescharged by the components manufacturers.

This has led to major efficiencies in the Sector withmany adopting the lean principles. We have usedthe expertise of Tony Murphy, from IDEAS, to helpand advise in regard to these companies withvarying degrees of success.

We have managed to achieve pay increases on av-erage of 2% in these companies.

Engineering - this area has been badly hit by thecollapse in the building industry and the economygenerally over the last two years concerned.Many of these companies have not had pay in-creases and some have not even recovered thecuts that were imposed during the crisis, the ex-ception being Liebherr, where a successful cam-paign brought significant pay increases. We alsomanaged to retrieve the cuts imposed in TurmecTeo.Steel and transport costs were a major issueuntil the recent reduction in fuel costs, whichshould be of some assistance to our members inthe Sector, but this did not help us in Geith, whereall our members were made redundant.

We are seeing some movement on pay in this areaas a result of the oil price reduction and some re-covery in the building industry.

Industrial Production –This is a very large and dis-parate Sector, most of it traditional, we have dif-ferent experiences to tell, many of them difficult.

The traditional weaving industry is now a smallpart of our Sector but one which has not yielded


any growth in membership and indeed less interms of pay rises, until 2016, where we managedincreases in Donegal Yarns, Towney Bay andBotany Weaving.

All in all, the last two years have been difficult withsigns of improvement /recovery coming along theeast coast in 2016, which we expect to see con-tinuing into 2017 and spreading to the rest of thecountry slowly afterwards.

AGRICULTURE, INGREDIENTS,FOOD AND DRINK SECTOR

Meat SectorA Strategy was adopted to try and make progresson organising new members on a plant by plantbasis. We continued with that strategy and thecampaign in Dawn/Meadow Meats secured a suc-cessful Labour Court Recommendation.

Dairy Sub SectorThis now established Sector is a very busy one.Terms and conditions of employment in the com-panies in this sector have been collated in ourdatabase and are available to all Industrial staff inour sector.Migrant WorkersWhat has shown up is a very high proportion ofmigrant and international workers employed andin membership e.g.

Meat IndustryProduct Total Membership %

InternationalRed Meat 2,487 1,215 49%Poultry 1,196 439 37%Pork & Bacon 517 354 68%

Organising The work for 2016 continued with a series of staffmeetings to update and focus again on any house-keeping issues. Density was addressed at thesemeetings as per previous practice. The practice ofdensity building is now well established with eachorganiser and admin staff alike, and we are all wellaware of its importance. This was developedwithin the Sector Committee and the newly estab-lished Sub Committee on Organising. This Sub-Committee has an agreed programme whichincludes a 12 point plan to develop improved or-ganisation and recruitment within the Sector. The

programme outlined from the Sub-Committee for2015/2016 was agreed and supported by the Sec-tor Committee. Progress was made on the follow-ing points:

• New user friendly application and recruitment form and leaflet

• Increased co-operation with the District Committees

• Training – ensuring that density building and organising is a major part of any new activists training

• Motion to the Biennial Conference 2015 in Cork

INTERNATIONAL AFFILIATIONSOur Sector continues to be affiliated to EFFAT (theEuropean Federation of Food Agriculture andTourism Trade unions) which represents workersin 38 European countries and defends the interestsof over 2.6 million members through the food pro-cessing chain in Europe.

Dairy Sub SectorA Dairy Sub Sector was established during theyear. This was agreed at a Seminar on the DairySector held in July 2015. At this Seminar a presen-tation was given to members by Tom Beresford ofTEAGASC on where the Dairy Sector in Ireland wasgoing in terms of development of the business.

We had discussions with TEAGASC which is exam-ining a joint training and accreditation system forthe Dairy Sector. This initiative is aimed at securingand enhancing jobs in the Dairy Sector and pre-venting the operative grades from being replacedby higher qualified or lower paid workers. We be-lieve that as a result of our discussions with TEA-GASC and others this initiative will result in a winwin for all the parties concerned and could prom-ise to be a very exciting prospect for the Sectionand the union members involved.

2015 Sector Committee PlanThe plan implemented during 2015 undertook toimprove the Sector Committee through

- better involvement of the wider membership- building the Sub Sector Committees in

areaswhere we identify the need for them- involving all members in the necessary

rejuvenation of the union increasing density and member involvement and


- taking the points made at the Manufacturing Division Workshops on board and using themto develop the Sector

ORGANISING CAMPAIGNSAs part of a strategic organising initiative betweenthe Manufacturing Division and the Strategic Or-ganising Unit the employment was identified as apossible target for backfilling in an attempt tobuild the union density. Evelina Saduikyte AssistantIndustrial Organiser Manufacturing Division was as-signed to aid the project due to her expertise inorganising migrant workers. Annette CarpenterLead Organiser from the Strategic Organising Unitwas assigned to the project, a number of scopingmeetings were held to produce a plan. On Octo-ber 24th, 2014 Annette Carpenter and Denis Gor-malley met with the then AIFD Sector OrganiserJohn Dunne and Manufacturing Division OrganiserGerry McCormack where a plan was approved.

An immediate concern was that the company hadexperienced rapid growth from approximately 150employees to in excess of 350 employees and, al-though we had improved our structures by creat-ing a Section Committee to liaise with the ShopSteward and Assistant Shop Steward, we decidedthat we needed a much wider representativeCommittee and that all members of the Commit-tee would be Shop Stewards.

Over the period from November 2014 to March2015 a series of organising meetings were heldwith potential members; a new enlarged SectionCommittee was elected and 8 training sessionswere conducted outside of working hours in theShop Stewards own time; the section wasmapped by the Section Committee; a survey ofmembers was conducted to identify the main is-sues and opinions sought of how members viewedthe union. Actions, goals and targets were set,based on the survey.

A number of collective and individual issues/griev-ances was pursued from March of 2015. Ownershipof these actions were given to the Shop stewards(advised by the officials) to raise the profile of theunion in the section. We were successful in:

Achieving equal pay for the evening shiftwhose members were previously paid theminimum wage;

Initiating pay discussions with manage-

ment (a pay freeze has been in force since2012), these negotiations were referred tothe Workplace Relations Commission aconciliation conference ended withoutagreement but a further conciliation con-ference is planned.

Taking a large number of individual griev-ance cases and referring those that havenot been resolved internally to the RightsCommissioner/Adjudicator service.

Over the period since the approval of the strategicorganising plan we have built our membershipfrom 171 paying members to 232 paying members.This equates to a growth in density from 45% to61%.

MIGRANT and INTERNATIONAL WORKERS NETWORK

It is clear from the statistics that a new round ofjob displacement is taking place in Irish industryand with the economic upturn this is likely to in-crease as labour shortages begin to emerge. Sta-tistics tell us that even workers from establishedmigrant countries are being displaced by migrantsfrom Southern Europe as they are easier for em-ployers to exploit. SIPTU research on densityclearly indicates that industries with high levels ofmigrants have a correspondingly low level ofunion density

The Food & Hotels sector is a perfect example ofthis displacement and the destruction of a well-paid and heavily unionised industry. In the early2000s, the Red Meat industry had rates of pay ofbetween €12 and €15 per hour with good bonusesand high union density. At the height of the boommany workers left the industry for better employ-ment opportunities. These jobs were filled by mi-grant workers, allowing employers to exploit thesituation and drive down pay levels across the in-dustry. The same can be said for the Hotel Industrywhere reasonably well paid union jobs were displaced by migrants on minimum wage. SIPTUhas so far failed to organise Migrant Workers asseparate category of worker, thus migrants havelittle or no interaction with the union.


Background to the setting up of the Migrant Net-work

The Manufacturing Division completed a report onthe research that was carried out into the organ-ising of migrant workers within SIPTU. The Divisionhas 4,859 (17%) known migrant members in the Di-vision. Within the Agri/Food sector almost 40% ofthe membership are migrants. Following a consul-tation process with migrant activists and staff, aset of recommendations was developed and thesewere considered by the Manufacturing DivisionCommittee. Following endorsement of the strat-egy and structure, a Steering Committee invitedrepresentatives from the Services Division to par-ticipate, given the high number of migrants in thatDivision. A Conference for all migrant activists withkey divisional and sector staff from both divisionswas held to formally launch the SIPTU Migrant & In-ternational Workers Support Network on January29th/30th 2016 in Dublin.

A dedicated Facebook page was launched for theNetwork on December 18th 2016 and marked In-ternational Migrants day.

The main function of the SIPTU Migrant & Interna-tional Workers Network is to assist the union in or-ganising migrant workers effectively and ensuringthat migrant activists are engaged in all aspects ofunion structures. Members of the network will betrained to organise workers, give advice on em-ployment rights’ issues, provide representationand translation where required, and engage withmigrant local communities. Members will also bepart of the union structures, participate on DistrictCouncils and develop a process of Community Or-ganising.

The most important role of the Network is to or-ganise workers internally and externally within theunion. Proper structures in each employment areneeded to coordinate the work of the sectioncommittee and shop stewards. This is reflected inthe revised Joint Manufacturing & Services DivisionStrategy Objectives -

To organise and support migrant workers effec-tively and to ensure migrant workers fully partici-pate in union activity

To educate ALL workers, regardless of their coun-try of origin, that workers have a shared objectivein sustaining and improving working conditions

To create a union Support Network to enable mi-grant workers to support themselves and theircommunities.

To work in collaboration with like-minded progres-sive groups and organisations across the commu-nity sector and civil society to organise andcampaign for a just, inclusive and equal society forpeople to live and work.

Training and Education of Migrant ActivistsThe provision of English lessons to activists and,where possible, to migrant members is a priorityand is now achieved through collaboration withFailte Isteach. Activists who require to learn Eng-lish should have courses provided by the union.

Training of Migrant activists began in 2016. Thetraining was well attended and well received. It ison-going on employment rights, employment law,organising techniques and what are trade unions?It explains how SIPTU works, how it is structured,political and cultural aspects of Irish life and, mostimportant, it facilitates migrant activists and staffto get to know each other through the Network.The training is residential. So far three trainingmodules have been held in Dublin, Portlaoise andGalway. It is carried out by Industrial Staff andWRC staff.

EUROPEAN WORKS COUNCILS NETWORK(EWC’s)Since establishing this Network in late 2015, withfour EWC Reps from within the Manufacturing Di-vision, real progress has been made. By late 2016we had identified and included 25 Reps in the Net-work from across the Manufacturing and the Serv-ices divisions. We have delivered training withsome interesting guest speakers and we are plan-ning to follow this up with a further two day train-ing course in June. The Network is still in its infancyand we have yet to tap into the organising poten-tial that is available to our EWC Reps. At this stage,the resources being provided are direct supportsto the EWC Representatives themselves. They aregiven in relation to promoting EWCs within eachworkplace where one already exists, supportingReps in reporting back to members and support-ing Reps who are entering into new agreements.We have yet to take advantage of the legislativeprotections that are available to our Reps ensuring


that they can report back to all workers in theiremployments regardless of the union status ofthese workers. In the coming months, as the Net-work matures, it is expected that we will, if andwhen the requirement arises, tap into this provi-sion allowing us onto some non-union sites to ex-plain the role of EWC’s and introducing thesenon-union workers to SIPTU.The Network Coordinator, Frank Jones, is workingclosely with EFFAT and IndustriALL (two of the Eu-ropean Federations to which SIPTU is affiliated)with a view to ensuring that our participation onEWCs are used to maximum value for all workerswe represent in Ireland.

WORKPLACE INNOVATIONWe all understand and appreciate the depth ofknowledge, and the breadth of practical processexperience that every worker in the manufactur-ing sector has accumulated over their workinglives. This information has been acquired as oper-ators set up their machines; watch over them asthey make good products; and, as occasion de-mands, sorting out product and/or process prob-lems as they arise. Our approach to WorkplaceInnovation enables this information to be valued,and accessed, as we strive to make world-classproducts and provide world-class services.

This ability to improve performance and fixprocess problems through genuine worker in-volvement is now, at last, being universally recog-nised. “The mental capacity of our people to solveproblems and improve performance is the key tosustained competitiveness. We need to maximisethe potential of our people to deliver improvedproductivity, using proven tools and techniques”.(Source: “Applied Benchmarking for Competitive-ness – A Guide for SME Owner/Managers”, byRichard Keegan and Eddie O’Kelly, 2004, OakTree Press, Cork). Employers have realised thatour unique approach to Workplace Innovation canunlock this creative potential within the workforce- and this can be a critical component for compa-nies as they drive for continuous improvementand on-going competitiveness.

We continue to work with existing client compa-nies as they implement Workplace Innovation,namely, Kirchhoff Automotive Letterkenny, TheoBenning GmbH Wexford and Henkel in both oftheir Dublin plants (Tallaght and Ballyfermot). We

have begun working with the Irish paint manufac-turer, Fleetwood in Virginia, County Cavan; BordNa Mona, Derrygreenagh; and Boliden Tara Minesin Navan. We are scheduled to resume work withBausch & Lomb in Waterford in May. We are cur-rently in exploratory discussions with Celtic Linenand a large pharmaceutical manufacturer in Cork.Both have expressed serious interest in learningmore about how we have successfully imple-mented Workplace Innovation in the Irish manu-facturing sector.

SUPPORTING QUALITYThe Supporting Quality Campaign continues topromote quality brands manufactured and pro-duced in Ireland, helping to protect quality jobshere. Since our last report membership has in-creased to 73 brands and Pfizer Ireland has re-newed as a sponsorship partner opening up thePharmaceutical Sector to the campaign.

The Services Division has joined the campaign andwe are actively working with organisers and shopstewards there to bring awareness of the cam-paign to their companies, encouraging them tojoin.

All existing companies continue to support thecampaign and have renewed their membershipthis year, which bears testimony to the relevanceof the campaign. In a survey of member compa-nies, we found that they appreciate the value ofpromoting their brands amongst the union mem-bership, seeing it as key to differentiating them asquality employers and, most importantly, the ben-efit of strengthening their relationship with unionmembers in the workplace. The campaign contin-ues with shop stewards and organisers approach-ing companies in order to continually increasemembership.

UNITE and TEEU, through our joint initiative, areactively promoting the campaign through theirown networks of officials and organisers. TheTEEU has a dedicated page on its website featur-ing a full page ad in their annual magazine. Mem-bers from both unions participated in the latestSupporting Quality film. Communications packshave been sent to all shop stewards and officialsin UNITE. Some joint approaches have alreadybegun to companies who have employees inSIPTU, TEEU and UNITE, inviting them on board


and strengthening the remit of the campaign.

A milestone was achieved with the endorsementby Congress of the Supporting Quality Campaign.Over the coming years we will be working withmember unions, aiding them to create awarenessof the campaign, its goals and aims amongst theirmembership. In May, 2016, Liam Doran introducedthe campaign at the INMO annual conference andinformation packs were handed out to delegates.

Other activities included monthly ads in Libertypaper, Liberty Online and the Supporting QualityChristmas E-zine. Our banner featuring membersof SIPTU was hung on Liberty Hall during Decem-ber 2016. Its message of “Chose & Support Work-ers in Ireland this Christmas” garnered publicity inthe national newspapers, which featured thisstrong, positive message from the unions.

The campaign visited a number of companies, in-cluding Standard Brands and Newbridge Silver-ware, Chef, Bord na Mona, Odlums, Pfizer Irelandand Britvic, and produced articles for Liberty. Itfeatured a joint interview in Liberty with JoeO’Flynn, General Secretary of SIPTU and IngridVandervorst, HR Director, Heineken, Ireland.

One of the major achievements of the campaignin 2016 was the production of the second Sup-porting Quality film featuring a number of compa-nies – Zip, Bord na Mona, Chef, Bachelors, andBritvic. The film was made in conjunction withmembers and shop stewards explaining in theirown words the impact of the campaign and whyit’s so important for fellow members to supportthem and their quality jobs. The film was screenedat the SIPTU Divisional Conferences, TEEU andUNITE’s annual conferences and numerous otherevents. To view the film go to www.support-ingquality.ie and click the film link on the homepage.

Supporting Quality also paid tribute to John Dunnewho took up the post of General Secretary of theGSU. John was instrumental in the conception andimplementation of the campaign. His generoussupport and enthusiasm helped ensure its success.

HEALTH and SAFETY NETWORKSIPTU is currently represented on the Irish Con-gress of Trade union’s Health and Safety Commit-tee by Sylvester Cronin, Michelle Quinn. KevinFiggis and Chris Rowland are on the board of theHealth and Safety Authority.

In October 2016 we held a very successful seminaron the theme of healthy workplaces for all ages.We had a number of guest speakers includingKieran Sludds, HSA, Biddy O’Neill, Department ofHealth, and Sylvester Cronin and Gerry Mc Cor-mack of SIPTU. The Seminar was attended by ap-proximately 60 delegates. The attendees werefrom a number of different unions, but SIPTUSafety Reps were the predominant grouping onthe day.

At this event we also launched the SIPTU healthand safety network, and we are currently in theprocess of establishing a database of Safety Reps.We continue to forge ongoing relationships withthe Health and Safety Authority, and we continueto raise Health and safety concerns at Congresslevel.

We are currently working with a number of unionson Health and Safety issues of common concern.

The Manufacturing Division has been particularlysuccessful in highlighting Workers Memorial Day,which occurs on 28 April each year. It is an inter-national day of remembrance for those killed or in-jured at work.

Many of our members participate on the day withWorker’s Memorial activities in their local employ-ments. These activities include toolbox talks,health and safety talks, poster campaigns onhealth and safety, the placing of commemorationplaques in their workplaces and, in a limited num-ber of locations, the creation of memorial gardens.

SIPTU College continues to provide health andsafety training to our elected Safety Reps. Mem-bers wishing to become involved in the Health andSafety network please notify the Manufacturing Di-vision of your interest.


PENSIONSThe Divisional Executive Committee agreed toprovide support procedures for SIPTU repre-sentatives, pension trustees and officials nego-tiating major changes to members’ pensionschemes. In 2015/2016, as in previous years,there was an upsurge in attempts by employersto dismantle Defined Benefit Schemes. Majorchanges, some involving serious disputes, tookplace during the period under review withmany companies’ pension schemes experienc-ing funding issues. However, many of theseschemes are fully funded and have little or nofunding issues. The division produced bookletson pensions for use by both activists and staff.

INDUSTRIAL DISPUTES The Division had 17 Industrial disputes duringthe period under review, in seven of these In-dustrial/Strike Action took place. All of themwere resolved successfully on behalf of ourmembers. The number, frequency and lengthof disputes has increased dramatically andmost particularly during 2016 when 11 indus-trial disputes were recorded.

The most protracted dispute occurred in GlenElectric, Newry, Co Down, where workers wereon strike for improved pay terms for severalweeks. The dispute was concluded successfullyon behalf of our members. Other notable dis-putes took place at Bausch & Lomb in Water-ford, Coty in Nenagh, Uniphar in Dublin, Pfizerin Ringaskiddy, Kerry Foods in Charleville, Ele-ment Six in Shannon, Arva Ltd in Shannon, C&C(Glessons) and Mondelez (Cadburys) in Dublin,GE Healthcare in Clonmel, Meadow Meats inLaois, Dawn Meats in Waterford, Kerry SpringWater in Tralee, Leo Pharma in Dublin andMedite Europe Ltd in Clonmel.


Public Adminstration and

Community Division

This is a review of the main developments in thePublic Administration and Community Divisionfrom January 2015 to December 2016.

Financial FinancialMembership Membership2015 2016

Community 8,043 7,798Education 6,188 6,072Local Authority 11,638 11,617State Related 3,538 3,106

29,407 28,370

DIVISIONAL CONFERENCE 2016The Public Administration and Community Division Conference took place in Liberty Hall onthe 10th and 11th November 2016. A total of 177Delegates were entitled to attend representing theFour Sectors within the Division, and the Divisional Committee.

The Conference was addressed by a number ofkey Speakers including –

Jack O’Connor SIPTU General President

Joe O’Flynn SIPTU General Secretary

Gene Mealy SIPTU Vice-President

John King SIPTU Divisional Organiser

Ivan Cooper The Wheel Community Organisation

Christine Jakob European Public ServicesUnion

Tom McDonnell Nevin Economic Research Institute

Delegates to the Conference debated andpassed a wide range of Motions covering issues such as the need for:

• A Community Campaign

• Public Sector Pay Restoration

• Public Sector Recruitment

All of the Motions will form the basis of the Divisions’ Work Plan over the next two years.

The Delegates in break-out Sessions also participated in a discussion on the MembershipConsultative Initiative.

Divisional Committee 2015 – 2016 Sector: Name:Education Maurice O’Donoghue,

PresidentCommunity Suzanna Griffin,

Vice-PresidentLocal Authority David BreenLocal Authority Denis CookeLocal Authority Stephen KellyLocal Authority Willie BagnallLocal Authority Jim ByrneLocal Authority Jerry CrowleyLocal Authority Gabrielle Magee**Local Authority Conor O’Toole**State Related Thomas WalshState Related Alan LindleyState Related Sandra DarleyEducation Tommy MurtaghEducation Grainne MorahanEducation Rachel Matthews Mc KayCommunity Teresa Collins Hinchey*Community Linda ScullyCommunity Derek MulcahyCommunity Donie O’LearyCommunity Graínne Griffin*Retired member John James Mc Loughlin

*Graínne Griffin replaced Teresa Collins Hincheyon the Committee

**Gabrillle Magee and Conor O’Toole nominated July, 2016.

Community Sector Committee 2016Elaine Harvey Sector PresidentHelena Mc Neill Vice-PresidentAnne CarrDonal CoffeyMartin CollinsDavid Connolly


Ray CorcoranGrainne Griffin (Co-opted to Committee)Suzanne GriffinTeresa Collins-HincheyJames MannionCaroline Mc DonaghBrendan Mc NultySian MuldowneyKevin O’ConnorPeter O’ConnorDonie O’LearyOrlaith RoweLynda Scully

Education Sector Committee 2016Jack Mc Ginley Sector PresidentOwen Doherty Vice-PresidentKieran AllenBrian BuglerMichael GeogheganMatt HattonCiaran Mc KennaGrainne MorohanTommy MurtaghDeirdre O’ConnorDiarmuid O’DwyerPaul Shields

Local Authority Sector Committee 2016Matt Henry Sector PresidentWillie Bagnall Vice-PresidentPaddy BeirneMartin BurkeJim ByrneEugene CaherlyTony CollierGerry ConcannonDenis CookeDave CurtinAlan DalyEugene DevlinGerard FalseyEddie GoldrickGerry HarrisWillie HorriganFrank LeeLiam MaherEamon Mc AuleyJames Mc LoughlinBrian Mc NamaraLeslie Mc NamaraEmmanuel Millar

Matthew O’MalleyDenis ReenDamien StirratJason LeighNigel DaltonPat McCanePhelim JenningsPatrick McCormackPaul Delaney

State Related Sector Committee 2016Alan Lindley Sector PresidentCaroline Curraoin Vice-PresidentCharlie AsheSandra DarleyTom GillJack KehoeAideen KellyGeorge KielyPeter O’SullivanVivion SpainTom Walsh

Standing Orders CommitteeJack Mc GinleyDavid CurtinNigel DaltonJames MannionTom Walsh

Representation from Division on National Executive Council and National Trustee

National Executive CouncilMatt HenryDavid ConnollyJack Mc GinleyTom Gill

National TrusteeAnnette Donlon

Representation from Division on National Campaigns and Equality CommitteeMs Maureen RyanMs Suzanne Griffin

Staff in the DivisionJohn King Divisional OrganiserBrendan O’Brien Sector Organiser –

Local Authority Sector


Eddie Mullins Sector Organiser – Community Sector

Jane Boushell Sector Organiser – State Related Sector

Louise O’Reilly* Sector Organiser – Education Sector

Karl Byrne Sector Organiser –Education Sector

Linda Murphy AdministrationMary Smith AdministrationBina Harte AdministrationEleanor Walsh AdministrationAnthony Community/Mc Cormack Local Authority

SectorMichael Kiely Community/

Local Authority SectorKaren Smollen Community SectorNoreen Parker Community SectorKevin Mc Kinney Community/

Local Authority SectorRamon O’Reilly Local Authority SectorCon Casey Local Authority SectorDeclan Ferry* Local Authority SectorJason Palmer Local Authority/

State Related SectorJohn Judge Local Authority/

State Related SectorMaurice Hearne Local Authority/

State Related SectorGerry Flanagan Local Authority/

Community SectorNoel Maguire Education SectorBill Mulcahy Education SectorGeoff McEvoy* Education Sector

*Louise O’Reilly on Special Leave*Karl Byrne Appointed August, 2016*Geoff McEvoy Appointed, September, 2016*Declan Ferry - Not full-time employed in the Division

INDUSTRIAL ISSUESThe Public Administration and Community Division is made up of four Sectors, representingmembers as follows:

During the period under review the Sectors, incollaboration with our colleagues in the StrategicOrganising Department, organised and recruited:

Joiners 2015 Joiners 2016Community 1,836 1,287

Education 414 472

Local Authority 684 596

State Related 142 225

3,076 2,580

DIVISIONAL REVIEWDuring the period under review, members of thePublic Administration and Community Division inthe Local Authority State Related and EducationSectors were governed by the Terms of theHaddington Road Agreement 2013 – 2016, andLansdowne Road Agreement 2016 – 2018.

The Community Sector, which is not covered byprovisions of the Haddington Road Agreementand the Landsdowne Road Agreement, continuedto be subjected to budgetary constraints imposed during the crisis in the Public Finances.

In the period under review SIPTU’s Public Sectormembers continued to be afforded the protec-tions of the Public Sector Agreements againstcompulsory redundancies, redeployment in excess of 45km and enhanced protectionsagainst outsourcing. The Haddington RoadAgreement continued to guarantee a level of security of income, and the Landsdowne RoadAgreement commenced the process of payrestoration.

Over 2015 and 2016 SIPTU’s Public Administrationand Community Division members were involvedin a number of campaigns and disputes aimed atnot only ensuring the protection of our members’interests, but also ensuring the delivery of services remained in public ownership, and thatthey were delivered in a high quality, efficientand safe manner.

Local Authority members were to the fore inmany of these cases. For instance, the Retainedand Full-time Fire Services had to engage in bothindustrial and political campaigns to defend theservice from being decimated in the ‘KeepingCommunities Safe’ proposals. The Dublin FireBrigade had to continue its’ campaign to ensureits role in delivering Emergency Services inDublin was maintained.

Local Authority members working under theService Level Agreement with Irish Water alsohad to engage in an industrial and political cam-


paign to ensure this essential service remained inpublic ownership, employing direct labour.

SIPTU’s public sector members are to be com-mended for playing their part in ensuring the de-livery of Public Services was maintained in anenvironment where pay and conditions havebeen reduced, and less staff are employed dueto the effect of the Public Service Moratorium.

Some of the best examples of this were seenduring the now annual flooding crisis when therole of public sector workers in the Fire andEmergency Services, Local Authorities, OPW and other State Organisations was essential to ensuring the safety and wellbeing of our citizensand their communities.

SIPTU members in the Community Sector continued to be the cornerstone of support forthe delivery of essential services to the marginalisedand the less well off in our society.

During the period under review, the effects of theeconomic crisis and imposition of austerity meas-ures saw thousands more families driven intopoverty and despair. Workers in the CommunitySector are to be commended for the role theyplayed in providing essential services to these citizens, despite the fact that the Sector continuedto suffer funding cuts, job losses and threats to privatisation.

In late 2015, the Government announced that itwas seeking submissions from stakeholders involved in the Community and Voluntary Sectoron the question of commissioning services.

SIPTU made a submission to the Department of PublicExpenditure and Reform, highlighting the concernsunion members had in relation to funding, and theprovision of proper contracts with decent pay andconditions for workers in the Sector.

The union also expressed its opposition to thiscommissioning process, which arose from con-cerns that it would lead to the widespread transferof Community and Voluntary Sector functions tothe Private for Profit Sector, with very negativeconsequences, not just for the employees in theSector, but for the State’s most vulnerable citizenswho depend on them.

Economic Recovery

The Irish economy continued to show signs ofstrong growth in 2015 and 2016, and SIPTU initi-ated a campaign for the restoration of the pay and

conditions cut unilaterally by the Government onPublic Service workers in 2009 and 2010. SIPTUand the Public Services Committee of ICTU wereable to use these improved economic conditionsin the negotiations that took place in 2015 on theLansdowne Road Agreement, an extension of thePublic Sector Stability Agreements, the Croke Parkand Haddington Road Agreements.

Although not due to formally commence until 1stJune 2016, the improved economic circumstancesallowed the union side to bring forward pay elements to 1st January 2016, that would benefitmembers.

The Agreement provides for an alleviation to thePension Related Deduction, a pay increase onsalary scales up to €65,000 and the re-enforce-ment of the Agreement that the higher earnerswho suffered additional pay cuts in the Hadding-ton Road Agreement will have them restored onthe agreed dates.

The Agreement also continues to provide for protections against Compulsory Redundancy andRedeployment in excess of 45km.

On the question of outsourcing, SIPTU ensuredthat the Agreement continued to build on the protective measures necessary to assist our members in the fight to maintain direct employment in the delivery of Public Services.

SIPTU Public Sector members voted to accept theagreement in a secret ballot held over the summerof 2015.

While the Community Sector is not covered by theTerms of the Public Services Agreement, SIPTUand IMPACT used the talks process to engage withthe Officials in the Department of Public Expenditureand Reform. This has resulted in the creation of aHigh Level Forum to enable the issues and challenges for the Sector to be addressed.

SIPTU during 2016 continued to call for the earlierimplementation of restoration measures providedfor in the Lansdowne Road Agreement.

This was due to improvements in the economyand at the Public Administration and CommunityDivisional Conference held on the 10th and 11thNovember 2016, SIPTU President Jack O’Connorannounced that a ballot of our Public Sector Mem-bership for Strike Action would be held if the Gov-ernment did not agree to enter early talks on thisissue.

As a result of this announcement by SIPTU the

Genevieve Mooney,Early Years Educator


Government conceded a talks process to com-mence in early 2017.

INDUSTRIAL OVERVIEW BY SECTOR

COMMUNITY SECTOR

Overview:The Community Sector has suffered more thanmost through the recession years. It is primarilymade up of private not for profit companies, de-pendent almost solely on state funding to survive.

There are approximately 35,000 workers em-ployed across the Sector, including CommunityEmployment Schemes, Local Development Com-panies, Childcare and Social Care.

Funding has reduced significantly across all pro-grams. As a result, workers have had their hoursreduced, wages cut, terms and conditions erodedand a significant number of workers have beenmade redundant. The biggest problem for theSector was the almost absolute refusal of theState’s funding agencies to engage in relation tothe effects of the reduced funding.

Workers in the Community and Voluntary Sectorhave a right to expect more from funding agenciesdealing with tax payers’ money.

In this context, workers felt optimistic that discus-sions on the Lansdowne Road Agreement led to aChairman’s Note setting out a pathway for dealingwith matters of concern. That is, funding, policy,pay, terms and conditions of employment and, inlight of the improving economic climate, an ex-pectation of some improvement to terms and con-ditions of employment.

There are still significant issues to be addressedand hopefully the High Level Forum envisaged inthe Chairman’s Note will provide that avenue.Among the items that remain to be resolved areoutstanding Labour Court recommendations, gov-ernment departments attitudes to formal agree-ments with us, where they exist, and agreeingpathways for resolving issues of concern to theSector.

The introduction of JobPath is of considerable con-cern to SIPTU. While this new programme is in its

infancy, it could significantly impact on the recruit-ment process in CE, TÚS, LES and Job Clubs, lead-ing to further redundancies in the Sector. TheJobPath programme effectively privatises labouractivation within the community sector and needsto be monitored closely.

The Sector has had a significant number of redun-dancies from Local Development Companies aris-ing from the SICAP programme. SIPTU is nowentering a phase where it is expected more redun-dancies will arise resulting from reduced LEADERbudgets and the potential loss of contracts forsome companies.

Sectional issues within the Community Sector:

TÚS: In view of the significant changes in the role ofTÚS, a claim has been lodged for (1) An incremen-tal pay scale (2) An increase in annual leave enti-tlement (3) An improvement to sick leave, and (4)Moves to bring the retirement age in line with the2011 Social Welfare Pension Act.

RSS:In view of the significant changes in its the role, aclaim has been lodged for (1) An incremental payscale (2) An increase in annual leave entitlement(3) An improvement to sick leave, and (4) tobring retirement age in line with Social WelfarePension Act 2011.

CTC: A number of Community Training Centers haveclosed after going into liquidation. We were ableto achieve enhanced redundancy entitlements forstaff, even though the Centers; were liquidated.The Sector also had the Employee Handbook asrevised in 2012, adopted by the Education andTraining Board, which is now responsible for theCTC.

CE: The Sector is hopeful that the High Level Forumcan begin to resolve the outstanding claim for aPension Scheme. There are a number of schemesengaged in mergers, with the loss of Supervisors’roles through natural wastage.

LES: Staff members have many concerns in relation tothe documentation now being forced upon them


by Department of Social Protection. They believeconfidentiality and data protection could be com-promised. They are preparing a proposal to dealwith these concerns.

Community Services Programme: Arising from an increase in the minimum wage,staff have enjoyed a wage increase to €19.50 perweek, or 5 ½%'.

Irish Wheelchair Association (IWA)The IWA provides personal assistance to peoplewith disabilities. It operates on a not for profitbasis. There is concern that contracts are beinglost to private providers whose staff have termsand conditions of employment that would not beas good as those applying to IWA staff. Workersin the IWA have had their wages cut by agreementin the hope that this will stave off the threat posedby privatisation of the disability service.

Citizens Information ServicesIt has been a busy period for the section commit-tee and members in this employment, with a num-ber of matters referred to the Workplace RelationsCommission. These include the issue of how thecommittee can collectively bargain with the par-ent board of the CIC’s so as to be able to repre-sent workers’ interests effectively. Of particularconcern is a decision by the employer to only offerpromotional manager/senior positions on a twoyear fixed term basis.

CommissioningIn mid-2015 the Department of Public Expenditureand Reform announced that it was conducting aconsultation on Commissioning for the Communityand Voluntary Sector.

SIPTU’s Community Sector Committee and mem-bers raised very serious concerns over this devel-opment as it represents a radical change in howthe State funds Community and Voluntary organi-sations. As outlined above, this presents a very realpossibility of Private for Profit Sector firms impact-ing negatively on employees’ conditions and onthe citizens who depend on these committedworkers to provide them with services.

The SIPTU PAC Division, Community Sector, in col-laboration with the Strategic Organising Depart-ment Community Campaign, made a submissionto this consultation process outlining a number of

key demands in the event of any new fundingmodel being developed.

Organising: Specific organising campaigns in the sector run inconjunction with the Strategic Organising Depart-ment are continuing. These include the IWA, LDCs,TÚS, RSS and FRC, and now the focus is being extended to Childcare, where the “Big Start” campaign has commenced.

EDUCATION SECTOR

OverviewDuring the period under review the Sector was cov-ered by the provisions of the Haddington RoadAgreement 2013 – 2016. The members continued tobe protected by the provisions of the agreement inrelation to Compulsory Redundancy, Re-deployment,Outsourcing and Income Protection.

The Sector engaged at the Education OversightBody to deal with any matters arising for membersunder the provisions of the agreement.

In non-public service areas the Sector continuedto represent members through direct collectivebargaining with the employers.

PayPay increases were achieved in the following employments.

Cistercian College, Roscrea. Increase from mini-mum wage to Living Wage, equivalent to a 25.6%pay increase, phased in from Jan 2016 to Jan 2017.

Rockwell College, Cashel. Increase to Living Wageequivalent to 18.5% pay increase, phased in fromJuly 2016 to Oct 2017.

Kilkenny College. Increase of 7% in Sept 2015 asmove to Living wage.

Newtown College, Waterford. Increase of 5% inSept 2015 as phase one of move to living Wage.Negotiations on-going on final phase due this year.

University College Cork, Tyndall InstituteThe last two years have seen Tyndall pay inequitydiscussed at several conciliation conferences atthe WRC. Due to an unacceptable evaluationprocess carried out by PwC, industrial action wasre-instated in May 2015 (with picketing on May 1st,6th and 7th) and notice was served on UCC for theescalation of the picket on 13th May 2015 to the


university’s main campus. College managementsought and achieved a High Court injunction toprevent SIPTU placing the picket. The High Courtruled on 11th May 2015 granting the injunction for13th of May only, stating that SIPTU was free toprosecute its dispute thereafter.

Following further negotiations at the WRC the dis-pute is now back in process and is expected to beconcluded successfully by year end 2016. The Jobevaluation process has so far shown that almost70% of SIPTU members at Tyndall UCC are underpaid vis a vis their UCC main campus counterparts.The evaluation process indicates a requirement forpay adjustments ranging from 1% to 65% acrossthe group of employees.

St Leo’s College, CarlowSIPTU pickets were placed at this secondaryschool on 13th March 2015, in pursuit of the rever-sal of cuts imposed on staff without agreement. Asuccessful outcome was achieved and the cutswere reversed.

Cork Institute of Technology 23 SIPTU members employed as cleaning staff atthe Institute had been excluded from the publicsector sick pay scheme since its inception in thelate 1970’s. Staff were using annual leave to coversickness. SIPTU became aware of this injustice inJuly 2015 and approached management immedi-ately. Staff were put on the scheme at that pointand, following several months of negotiation, com-pensation was paid to each staff member. Thetotal compensation figure exceeded €100,000.

Cistercian College, RoscreaAttempts by College management to outsourceCatering and Cleaning work were successfully re-sisted. Following a ballot for industrial actionagreement was reached on maintaining directlabour.

Newtown School, Waterford.The management agenda to outsource the cater-ing and housekeeping function was resisted bySIPTU and agreement was reached on maintainingdirect labour.

Carlow College. Following two years of efforts by SIPTU and mem-bers at Carlow College, agreement was reachedwith the new College President resulting in tradeunion recognition.

University College Cork.Agreement was reached at University CollegeCork in early 2016 for making a round of promo-tions open to 460 SIPTU members employed asadministrative staff. The union had won a LabourCourt case for these staff to be treated “no lessfavourably” than lecturers and technical staff in re-gard to promotions. Following a ballot for indus-trial action, agreement was reached on promotionfor up to 70 administration staff. The internal pro-motions process is currently underway.

SIPTU Education Sector members at UniversityCollege Cork have begun a campaign in conjunc-tion with the SIPTU Services Sector to have all con-tract staff at UCC paid the Living Wage(€11.50/hr) as a minimum. Some 200 catering andcleaning contract workers stand to benefit as themajority are paid at legal minimum levels.

National College of IrelandFollowing industrial action, we reached agreementat the LRC on the reinstatement of the pensionscheme and the restoration of pay cuts/freezes. Anew system of incremental credits was agreedand accepted by members. This will mean thatmembers at the top of their scale can now accesspay increases on top of cost of living increases, andstaff who were previously excluded from the incre-mental credit system have been included in it.

DCUIncorporation: The work on incorporating threeteacher training colleges into DCU is ongoing. Onthe insistence of SIPTU a Central Negotiating Com-mittee chaired by Janet Hughes assisted with theresolution of some long outstanding Industrial Re-lations issues for members. The work on Incorpo-ration and related matters is anticipated to befinalised in the 2nd/3rd quarter of 2016. This workis continuing. It is anticipated that permanent jobswill be offered to staff in the library and otherareas.

Discussions on the issue of increased shift al-lowance for security staff are ongoing.

A claim for improvement of the wages of TechnicalOfficer staff in DCU was lodged and rejected bymanagement. This was referred to the WRC.

UCDThis was a busy period for the section and mem-bers in UCD, with some claims resolved locally andothers through the WRC and Labour Court.


Biomedical Facility - Labour Court Recommenda-tion on the retention of agreement on rosteredovertime.

Small Group Teachers - Labour Court Recommen-dation on Terms and Conditions of Employment.

Media Services - Labour Court Recommendationon Relocation.

Car parking - Labour Court Recommendation.

Applied Language Centre - Labour Court Recom-mendation.

TCDThe section committee was active on a number ofdisputes and grievances on behalf of members, in-cluding:

Grounds Staff – Regrading for General Operatives.

Academic Registry – Agreement secured onarrangements in relation to office relocation.

Chefs – Claim in respect of overtime arrange-ments.

The section also organised a specific workplacetraining course for new activists and basic trainingfor shop stewards.

QQI (Quality and Qualifications Ireland)Following a ballot for industrial action, engage-ment locally and with the LRC, and the interven-tion of the Department of Education, the Sectorsecured an agreement which will see the recogni-tion of the grading structure. This has put an endto the campaign by management to create theirown structure separate from the public service. Ithas also seen an increase in the number of annualleave days for our members. New job descriptionswere finalised and members are working in jobsappropriate to their grades.

NCADThe Sector engaged extensively with manage-ment locally and under the auspices of the Work-place Relations Commission in relation to issuesconcerning pay, hours of work and proper con-tracts of employment for part time lecturing staff.

We also passed a motion of No Confidence in thesenior management team and the Sector sup-ported the students in their protest against themanner in which the college was being run.

NUI GalwayArising from the outcome of two cases taken tothe Equality Tribunal successfully establishing thatgender discrimination existed at NUI Galway,SIPTU launched a campaign to address institu-tional discrimination at the university. The cam-paign found a wide range of precariousemployment practices that exploited the vulnera-bility of workers not on permanent contracts.These resulted in the fragmentation and casualisa-tion of contracts of employment that not only re-sulted in inferior terms, but limited futureprospects for progression or promotion, or in-deed, continuity of employment. While thesepractices affected both women and men, womenconstituted a significant majority. The campaignraised considerably the profile SIPTU, successfullyconnecting with organising and activism objec-tives. In addition to advancing a considerablenumber of individual cases, the SIPTU is pursuinga number of collective claims. These include thereclassification of women as academics, who con-tinue to be paid as administrators, and an industrialrelations campaign to address inferior terms andconditions for those on precarious contracts, in-cluding those who experience discrimination onContracts of Indefinite Duration.

ETB Training CentresStaff in the ETB Training Centres (formerly SOLAS)completed their legal transfer into their respectiveEducation and Training Boards (formerly VECs). Thisfollowed extensive work by the Sub Sector Commit-tee in negotiating red circled terms and conditionsand preserving relevant policies and proceduressupporting them. The adjustment into the ETB cul-ture has presented a number of difficult challengesboth from the staff transferring and from the receiv-ing ETBs in adapting to the training centre model.Through the expert assistance of local representa-tives SIPTU managed to preserve its recognitionstructures and successfully established a new rela-tionship with the ETB representative body (ETBi) onoperational and industrial relations matters. Addi-tionally, the Sub-Sector Committee representativesestablished an Industrial Relations Forum with theDepartment of Education and Skills (DES) which en-sures that SIPTU has an industrial relations processat the highest level. A range of issues concerning allgrades: instructors, clerical/administration and gen-eral operatives, have been the subject of negotia-tion and agreement. Among the issues covered arenew apprenticeships, a new curriculum for appren-tices, annual leave entitlements, staffing resourcesand grading issues.


1. Sarah Anne Buckley and Maggie Ronanyne mark Trade Union Day at NUI Galway.

2. Dublin Fire Brigade Emergency Medical Service campaign.

3. OPW Tour Guides workshop in SIPTU College.

1

2

3


GMITThe union successfully secured a Labour CourtRecommendation recognising 29 women canteenworkers as public servants, and acknowledgingtheir entitlement to public sector pension rights.The workers concerned were being denied recog-nition as public servants due to the establishmentof a campus company which segregated themfrom their comparators within the Institute. Theprocess of implementation is now under way.

Caretaking and Cleaning Staff (ETBs, National andSecondary Schools)Caretaking and Cleaning staff continued to comeunder considerable pressure to meet additionalworkloads arising from the non-replacement ofstaff. The issue is compounded in schools wherestudent numbers are rising and new buildingserected. Outsourcing and the use of agency staffis on the increase. The philosophy driving this ap-proach can be traced all the way to the Depart-ment Education and Skills. Members have had tothreaten industrial action to thwart plans to out-source them with private contractors on severaloccasions. Thanks to support from this Divisionand the provisions of the Public Sector Agree-ments, attempts to transfer members have largelybeen averted.

St. Angela’s College, SligoThe college is to transfer to NUI Galway under aTUPE. This transfer has been controversial for bothacademics and support staff alike. Strike actiontaken by TUI members and SIPTU members bal-loted in support. Management has resisted nego-tiations on the terms of the transfer, howeverSIPTU has secured commitments from both HR de-partments that negotiations will begin in goodtime prior to the move.

Shannon CollegeThe situation is similar to that proposed for St. An-gela’s College. Shannon College members havetransferred into the employment of NUI Galway. Anumber of issues not covered by NUI Galwayterms and conditions are the subject of a referralto LRC.

LOCAL AUTHORITY SECTOR

OverviewIn the period under review the major industrial activity within the Sector fell under the provisionsHaddington Road Agreement 2013 - 2016. Sectormembership is currently around 12,000. Numbersin the Sector have been depleted by 30% as a con-sequence non-recruitment arising from the PublicSector Moratorium.

Significant restructuring in the Sector has takenplace over the period of the report through theLocal Government Efficiency Review, which hasseen a number of Local Authorities merged.

Major issues in the Sector affecting our membersincluded the ongoing situation concerning IrishWater, as well as a number of disputes in the FireServices.

Union OrganisationThe Sector Committee meets on a regular basis and has established the following national Committees:

National Water Services Committee

National Retained Fire Service Committee

National Fulltime Fire Service Committee

National Wardens Committee

Procurement Committee

Supervisors Committee

Northern Ireland - Local Authority RationalisationDuring the period coved by this report the processof reducing the 26 District Councils to 11 DistrictCouncils concluded. SIPTU represents members in4 of the 11 Councils. Our key activists remain en-gaged in a process of ensuring that members areprotected during this process, especially in situa-tions where new Councils are seeking to mergedepartments and services following amalgama-tion.

Ongoing issues include harmonisation upwards ofpay for members who are now working for thesame employer and undertaking identical work ondifferent pay structures. Belfast City Council trans-ferred our members, who were previously em-ployed directly by them to an arm’s length body.Our local representatives however ensured theywere able to transfer with a TUPE Plus agreement,including the right to transfer back to Belfast CityCouncil in the event of redundancies.


Northern Ireland - Local Authority PayFollowing national negotiations on behalf of members working in local authorities and schoolscovered by the National Joint Council, the pay offercovering the 2016 and 2017 pay round involved a 1%increase for most people in 2016 and again in 2017,with higher amounts for the lowest paid.

Water Services:Our Local Authority members employed in waterservices operate under the terms of a ServiceLevel Agreement negotiated with the Local Au-thorities. Negotiations and discussions concerningour water service members take place under theauspices of the Irish Water Consultative Group.

Our Local Authority members employed in waterservices operate under the terms of the ServiceLevel Agreement which provides for the Local Au-thorities to provide a public water service to thestate. Negotiations and discussions concerningour water service members employed by LocalAuthorities working under the provisions of theService Level Agreement take place under the aus-pices of the Irish Water Consultative Group.

The major issue arising in 2014 concerned the fail-ure of Local Authorities to maintain the agreedwater services headcount. This remained problem-atic throughout the year despite repeated assur-ances that, where vacancies arose, these wouldbe addressed by management.

In October 2015, Irish Water unilaterally an-nounced that it had presented a business plan tothe Government to dramatically reduce Local Au-thority staff numbers over the next number ofyears. SIPTU was concerned that this would leadto the eventual privatisation of the service by re-moving the ability of local Authorities to providethe service.

Members in the Sector balloted for Industrial andStrike action which was supported overwhelm-ingly. Arising from the dispute, discussions wereconvened under the auspices of the WorkplaceRelations Commission. This led to an agreementthat included the following:

No reductions in staff unless it can be demon-strated that the service can be maintained to therequired standard and that Local Authority staffwill not be displaced by contractors.

No transition from a permanent to a temporaryworkforce. To this end, an independently chairedprocess was agreed to maintain the 2017 head-count figure at 95% permanent.

Where a permanent post becomes vacant in thecourse of a multi annual service plan, it will be re-placed as permanent unless there’s a rationale forits non-filling on this basis under the followingMulti Annual Service Plan.

The fleet to be maintained, as well as €800,000to be provided for staff training/upgrading.

A commitment by management to engage on theDesign Build and Operate strategy.

SIPTU’s Local Authority Sector Committee and National Water were also highly active during theperiod in relation to the campaign against the privatisation of our water services. In March 2015,our members participated in the Right2Water Citizens Initiative protest outside the EuropeanParliament in Brussels, which called upon the EUnations to halt the drive to privatise public waterservices.

In late 2015, the Local Authority Water Committeeorganised the ‘Water Guarantee’ campaign, whichcalled elected representatives, including GeneralElection candidates to sign a pledge to protectour water service by:

Re-designating Irish Water from a commercialsemi-state to a non-commercial state agency.Holding a referendum to keep water services in public ownership and control.

Fire Services

Keeping Communities Safe (KCS) DisputeFollowing a circular issued in January 2015 seekingto implement disputed measures under the KCSprogramme, members in the Retained Fire Serviceballoted for industrial and strike action, which wasoverwhelmingly supported. This was followed bya march and demonstration by both Retained andFulltime Fire Service members outside the Dail.

The campaign led to a meeting with Minister AlanKelly who, having heard our members concerns,proposed new discussions to seek a resolution tothe KCS dispute. A process involving the partieswas established and chaired by former SIPTU Gen-eral President Des Geraghty. Following discussionsover the next number of months, agreement wasreached for the establishment of a new consulta-tive forum titled the Fire Services National Over-sight and Implementation Group (FSNOIG), whichprovides for the issues of concern to be discussedthrough Joint Working Committees. Where agree-


ment is not arrived at through the JWCs, then op-erational issues will be adjudicated on by an inde-pendently chaired expert panel, or industrialrelations issues will be referred through the normalIR channels.

Dublin Fire Brigade Staffing Dispute

Following the reneging of an agreement by Dublin

City Council to begin recruitment to address the

serious firefighter staffing shortages, members bal-

loted for industrial/strike notice. Notice of the

commencement of industrial action was served.

Following an invitation from the Workplace Rela-

tions Commission, discussions took place leading

to a proposal which provided for a time-lined re-

cruitment process to fully restore staffing numbers

in the Brigade. The agreement also provided for a

‘trigger mechanism’ to provides for automatic re-

cruitment should vacancies arise.

Dublin Fire Brigade Ambulance Service DisputeIn early 2015, Dublin City Council announced that,in consort with the HSE, it would commission a re-view of the DFB’s Ambulance service. The unionwas concerned that this was a prelude to the out-sourcing of this critical emergency service. Follow-ing a campaign by members in DFB, SIPTU securedagreement for an independently chaired processto see could a model of delivery be agreed by theparties that also addressed the recent HIQA reportinto ambulance services in the state.

Following a series of discussions, the process en-gaged an expert panel who took submissions fromthe parties and published their report in late 2015.This was accepted by the union side and later bymanagement, pending resolution of a number ofpoints.

Outdoor Grade Annual LeaveFollowing a campaign by SIPTU, the Sector se-cured agreement on the extension of the standard25 annual leave days to our members in the out-door grades in the Local Authorities. Members inthe outdoor grades currently above 25 days perannum will retain them on a ‘red-circled’ basis.This agreement falls in line with, and restores thehistoric relativity link between the craft and out-door grades in respect of annual leave. Membersin the Sector are benefitting on average by rwoadditional days’ leave per annum.

GatewayThe Sector notified management of the cessationof our co-operation with the Gateway job activa-tion scheme in light of the improving economic sit-uation, and also the requirement for properrecruitment to be recommenced in the Sector.

Workforce PlanningThe Sector has been actively engaged in seekingthe recommencement of normal recruitmentacross the grades SIPTU represents throughoutthe Local Authorities. While many Local Authoritiescite ongoing financial difficulties, we havenonetheless secured agreements in a number ofcounties for the recruitment of Outdoor and Tech-nical/Engineering grades. The Sector has alsocampaigned for the recruitment of apprentices.Agreements have been reached in a number ofcounties.

Retirement AgeFollowing the loss of the Transitional Pension,many retiring members face serious financial hard-ship by being placed on jobseekers’ benefit pend-ing their pension commencing at age 65. Arisingfrom this concern, the union has successfully cam-paigned in the majority of counties for the optionof members staying in work till age 66. The Sectoris continuing its’ campaign with the remaining twoor three Local Authorities in an effort to resolve thismatter.

Dublin General Operative RateDiscussions began under the Public Service Agree-ment, on including travel time for low paid work-ers in Dublin (City?) in their pension.

STATE RELATED SECTOR

OverviewDuring the period under review members of theState Related Sector were covered by the provi-sions of the Haddington Road Agreement 2013 –2016. The Sector continued to be active on theState Sector Oversight Body. It continued to be af-fected by the imposition of the moratorium andwith ongoing mergers of state agencies, includingthose being subsumed into the Civil Service.


FÁSIts’ break-up was finalised in 2014. Agreement wasreached for the transfer of members in the TrainingCentres to the various Education and TrainingBoards on their existing terms and conditions ofemployment. The Department agreed that SIPTUwould continue to represent these members atlocal and national discussions with the employerand the Department of Education and Skills.

ApprenticeshipsSIPTU made a comprehensive submission to theReview Body. The published Report containedmost of the recommendations made in our Sub-mission.

The Department of Education and Skills engagedin discussions with SIPTU on the implementationof the revised delivery of Apprenticeships follow-ing the outcome of the Review. SOLAS was alsorepresented.

Teagasc A major dispute arose following the transfer ofmembers from fortnightly to monthly pay, when itappeared there was a shortfall due to fortnightlypay being operated on an 11 year cycle. Noprogress was made locally with Finance Manage-ment. Eventually, following discussions with theDirector in December 2015, Teagasc agreed to en-gage Grant Thornton to carry out an examinationof the issues raised by the unions to establish if infact any member had been underpaid. Thisprocess is on-going.

An improved consultation mechanism has been es-tablished to address proposals on outsourcingcontained in the organisation’s “Change Pro-gramme 3” produced in 2014.

Farm Staff ReviewDiscussions have continued throughout 2014 and2015 on future working requirements and pat-terns. These include the possibility of an annu-alised hours’ arrangement and a new promotionaloutlet for those with a particular Agricultural qual-ification.

Advisory SectionA Labour Court Hearing was held into our claim foraccess to pension added years from memberswho had been temporary employees of theCounty Committees of Agriculture before transfer-ring to ACOT. This failed to deliver a result as the

Court decided it did not have jurisdiction to hearthe case. Subsequently, we referred the matter tothe Pensions Ombudsman as a Test Case. The mat-ter is on-going.

Sanction to fill Advisory Posts of Responsibilityfunded by the PCW 1% productivity clause was re-ceived and a competition for 18 permanent and 5temporary posts took place.

Contracts of Indefinite Duration were successfullypursued through the Labour Relations Commissionand Labour Court for a number of members whohad Fixed-Term and Specific Purpose Contracts forwork on funded Joint Programmes.

The organisation received its Delegated Sanctionin October 2015, albeit with a number of caveats.Outline Management proposals were given to theunion, which included recruitment of new staff andpromotions. Negotiations on how these were toapply fairly across all grades and categoriesbegan.

Department of Agriculture, Food and the MarineOur dispute regarding the application of al-lowances in Castletownbere Harbour was referredto the Labour Relations Commission. Subsequentlyan agreed Job Evaluation exercise was carried outwhich resulted in the upgrade of two members.

Department of Defence – Haulbowline Following the discovery of asbestos in two navalvessels on which our members work, a HSE inves-tigation took place and a procedure for removalwas put in place. All members received healthscreening and a programme for on-going screen-ing was put in place for both serving and retiredstaff.

State Agencies Oversight BodyFollowing concession of the claim for the exten-sion of craft workers additional annual leave in theLocal Authorities, SIPTU again tabled its originalclaim for its extension to General Operatives inState Agencies and State Industrial Grades at theState Agencies Oversight Body.

The DPER said the claim could not be conceded.The union side referred the matter to the LRC andsubsequently to the Labour Court, which found infavour of our claim. Agreement was reached thatadditional days would be conceded from the2016/2017 leave year and one additional daywould be added to the 2015/2016 leave year. The


written agreement further states that whateveragreement is reached in respect of overtime work-ing on Good Friday in the Local Authorities willalso apply in the State Agencies/State IndustrialSector.

ForfásThe legislation providing for the dissolution of For-fás and the integration of its functions into the De-partment of Jobs, Enterprise & Innovation waspublished just before Christmas 2013. A reviseddepartmental structure was approved in order tomaximise the benefits of integration. Negotiationstook place with the Secretary General of DJEI andthe CEO of Forfás on the transfer of responsibilitiesand accompanying staff.

Agreement was reached between the DPER andICTU on the wording of the paragraphs dealingwith terms and conditions of employment andpensions, which were inserted into the legislationdissolving Forfás and dividing its responsibilitiesamong other state bodies. This wording will formthe generic to be inserted in all future legislationregarding mergers of State bodies/transfers offunctions.

Shannon DevelopmentThe agreed Facilitator, Mr Brendan Duffy presidedover a final meeting to identify outstanding prob-lems and agree a resolution mechanism. At theend of this lengthy process he drew up an adden-dum to the original agreement which was agreedby all parties and gave a number of improvementsto our members in relation to continued member-ship of the public service pension scheme, andpublic service terms and conditions, unless pro-moted in the new Shannon Commercial Enter-prises company.

The Voluntary Severance Scheme was reopenedfor a short period and a small number of membersavailed of it. Remaining members relocated to theAirport.

In 2015 management outlined details of major in-vestment plans in respect of the Shannon FreeZone. It is hoped that this will bring new employ-ment to the area. This will be private rather thanpublic sector.

Transport Infrastructure Ireland (merged body for-merly the Railway Procurement Agency and Na-tional Roads Authority)

Major difficulties were experienced during negoti-ations to merge a public service body with a com-mercial semi-state. In particular, the grading

system in the RPA was different to the public serv-ice and an initial exercise carried out by RPA man-agement was rejected by SIPTU. Subsequently,the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sportrejected the Management findings.

The assistance of the LRC was sought to addressseparate issues of concern to members in the RPAand the NRA. After discussions with officials fromthe Department of Transport and the Departmentof Public Expenditure and Reform, it was agreedto enter into a facilitation process with RayMcGee, former Deputy Chairperson of the LabourCourt as the independent facilitator.

The final document was overwhelmingly acceptedby the members in separate ballots in each organ-isation. Included as part of the Protocol Agree-ment was a job evaluation, to be carried out byTowers Watson, to allocate public service gradesto RPA staff. An internal appeals process was in-cluded in this process. However, management re-fused to agree a process to deal with any gradingdisputes that remained following the internal ap-peals process, only being prepared to go through“normal industrial relations procedures”.

17 members remained dissatisfied following the in-ternal process and the matter was referred to theWorkplace Relations Commission.

A voluntary redundancy scheme was introducedin the RPA during the early months of the negoti-ations and was re-opened for a couple of monthsprior to the merger. The Minister designated 1stAugust 2015 as Vesting Day.

NRA staff relocated to Parkgate Street to the ex-panded location of the RPA.

Fáilte Ireland43 people availed of the voluntary severancescheme and the majority finished on 31st March2014, with a small number remaining on until Juneto carry out specific duties.

Management decided to close the Print Unit as themajority of printing was being carried out exter-nally. Staff members in the Unit were offered re-deployment, but opted for voluntary redundancy.This has led to continuing discussions on the issueof outsourcing.

A dispute arose in relation to the provision of anIncome Continuance Scheme for members rede-ployed from Shannon Development. This was partof their terms and conditions. The dispute was re-


solved following discussions at the State RelatedOversight Body. The DPER and DJEI instructedFáilte Ireland to reinstate the provision as it wascovered by TUPE.

North South Pension SchemeThe British government tasked a former MP, LordHutton, with a review of the British Civil and PublicService. His report included a number of proposalsto increase pension contributions and reduce ben-efits by imposing career averaging on existingscheme members. The North South PensionScheme operates under the rules of the NorthernIreland Civil Service Scheme and therefore wewere informed that the proposals in the HuttonReport would be implemented from 1st April 2014(having been implemented in the UK in 2012). TheChief Executive’s Group, which acts as the Pen-sions Committee, wrote to Minister Howlin, thenMinister for Public Expenditure and Reform, statingthat they believed the proposals contravened theHaddington Road Agreement. However MinisterHowlin’s Private Secretary responded on his behalfto the effect that implementing the changeswould not contravene the HRA.

The unions involved met with the Chair of theCEOs Committee and Officials from the relevantcivil service departments. SIPTU and IMPACT thenjointly referred the matter to the State AgenciesOversight Body and discussions took place. Fol-lowing these the DPER tabled a proposal to theunion side. Under this service already accrued wasring-fenced and only future service would be sub-ject to career averaging. Those close to retirementwere exempted from any change.

Implementation of the changes to contributionswas postponed until April 2015. Our memberswere given the option to revert back to their orig-inal schemes rather than remain in the North SouthPension Scheme. A further problem arose whenour members were informed that Revenue Rulesmeant the lump sum conversion rate agreed aspart of the changed scheme (ratio of 12:1) couldnot apply in the South. Our members may onlyconvert at a rate of 9:1. Following further discus-sions with the DPER, it consulted with Revenueand the original conversion rate was accepted byRevenue.

The majority of members chose to remain in theNSPS with only a handful opting to revert to theirformer public service scheme.

Waterways IrelandAgreement was reached on Management’s pro-posal to change the working arrangements/con-ditions for Lock keepers in the Eastern Region.There were some financial losses as a result, twomembers took voluntary redundancy and one re-deployed to a different section.

National Gallery of IrelandBallots for industrial action and strike action wereheld as a result of a Labour Court Recommenda-tion which reduced our members’ annual leave en-titlements.

Following ballots in favour of both, sanction wasgiven for a series of one day stoppages. The firsttook place on 5th June 2014 and the picket wasrespected by all union members, including thosenot involved in the dispute. The construction crewworking on the redevelopment also refused topass the picket. Further stoppages were plannedfor 7th and 21st July. An intervention by the Chair-person of the Internal Industrial Relations Forum,John White, resulted in a settlement proposalwhich was rejected on a ballot of the members.

Management requested a further meeting on 4thJuly and, following lengthy negotiations, a pro-posal emerged which involved management sus-pending any attempt to implement the LabourCourt Recommendation, the union suspending itsstrike action, and an agreement being made toenter into intense negotiations over three weekson changes to the roster system. This would in-clude a number of the days which the Court hadrecommended should be abolished, being re-stored.

The dispute was satisfactorily resolved with thesettlement proposals including a new roster andmethods of working, as well as compensation forthe loss of annual leave as per the HRA formula.The ballot was overwhelmingly in favour of thefinal proposals and the new agreement was imple-mented across all areas over a period of months.

There was further engagement with managementand a submission was made to the Department ofPublic Expenditure and Reform for sanction to filla number of essential posts, and to regularise anumber of posts currently filled by members on anacting basis, but without an acting allowance.Sanction to fill these was granted.


OPWSanction to take on 20 apprentices was receivedin 2014, with a view to this continuing for the fore-seeable future. They are in the areas of stone ma-sonry, stone cutting and carpentry. A number ofAdult Apprenticeships have been facilitated.

Dublin Castle: Agreement was reached on Consta-ble manning levels with the assistance of the LRC.

Workforce Planning: The union continued to pressfor vacant posts to be filled. During the periodcovered by this Report the OPW carried out a‘Value for Money’ audit and as a result has con-cluded that direct labour gives better value, betterquality of work and more control over work andcosts than using external providers. This has as-sisted us in our discussions.

A number of competitions have taken place forboth promotional positions and external recruit-ment for intake level posts during 2015.

An Organising campaign, focused on the OPWSeasonal Guides, commenced during the Summerof 2015 with the assistance of the Organising Unit.Site meetings took place around the country. TheNational Guides Committee is actively involvedand we have had a large increase in local unionRepresentatives.

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)Discussions continued in relation to our long-running dispute on the integration of techniciangrades A, B and C into the standard EPA gradingstructure, culminating in a proposal from Manage-ment that was slightly different for Technician Bgrade and Technician C grade. There is no longeranyone employed as Technician A.

On legal advice two separate ballots were held onmanagement’s proposals.

The ballot results were

Former AFF Staff For 2 Against 8

Non AFF Staff For 12 Against 0

Lengthy discussions ensued and the union soughtimplementation for the group, which had voted infavour of the proposals. Eventually the matter wasreturned to the LRC and Management agreed toseek sanction from the Department of the Environ-ment, Community and Local Government to imple-ment the Technical C proposal. The union’sintention following that would be to refer theTechnician B issue to the Labour Court.

Government decided that the Radiological Protec-tion Institution of Ireland would be subsumed intothe EPA. The union engaged in discussions withmanagement on the merger with the RPII. It wasagreed that EPA terms and conditions wouldapply, except in a small number of cases wherethe RPII had slightly better arrangements (e.g. flex-itime). In these cases the RPII terms were adopted.The EPA is taking over the functions of the RPII andthe merger resulted in a fourth Directorate of Ra-diological Protection being established.

Loughs AgencyFollowing discussions with the DPER on the assim-ilation of our members onto Southern public serv-ice grades, (they were previously on NorthernIreland scales/grades), the members, who areSouthern-based were placed on standard publicservice scales. We disputed these grades as theyappear to under-grade some of our memberswhen compared to their counterparts in otherstate agencies.

Our members are also now part of the North-SouthPension Scheme.

The DPER said it would not be willing to allow ajob evaluation exercise until the end of the PublicService Agreement. The union has been consider-ing options.

Legal Aid BoardThe Minister for Justice and Equality re-designatedLegal Aid Board solicitors as civil servants in June2014, despite submissions from both SIPTU andUNITE raising a number of issues important to ourmembers. We had a meeting with the Board todiscuss various practical and technical matters re-lated to this change in status. We were informedthat within the civil service IMPACT is the unionrecognised for negotiating purposes on behalf ofthese grades and that SIPTU (and UNITE) will notbe recognised for collective bargaining purposes.

National Joint Industrial CouncilA circular was issued in 2015 on the standardisa-tion of overnight and subsistence rates for all staff.Unfortunately, we discovered that the grades ofGeneral Operative, Craftsperson and Apprenticewere excluded. We have been pursuing the mat-ter through the NJIC seeking equal treatment forour affected members.


Housing AgencyThe Labour Court found in favour of the union’sclaim that the so-called ‘Bonus’ of 7% paid in theNational Building Agency was in fact part of basicsalary and should be paid post transfer. The Courtinstructed the parties to discuss implementation.

A memorandum of understanding was agreed be-tween the union and the DPER in relation to theimplementation of the Recommendation and for-malised with the assistance of the LRC as a Chair-man’s note in side conference during the talks onthe Lansdowne Road Agreement. The implemen-tation of full salary is to commence on 1st January2016 for all former NBA staff, whether remaining inthe Housing Agency or redeploying to other pub-lic service bodies.

Moorepark Technology LimitedThis organisation was transferred into the StateRelated Sector in December 2014 as the membershad been designated public sector workers forpension purposes. The organisation is a subsidiaryof Teagasc, which serves as a Pilot Plant for theDairy Food Industry. An investment of €10m wassanctioned by the Department of Agriculture,Food and the Marine, €6m to be funded by Tea-gasc and €4m funded by the industry. This invest-ment is predicated on increased production,which required a new working arrangement basedon continuous running, and also required an in-crease in staffing numbers.

Local negotiations being exhausted, the matterwas referred to the Labour Relations Commission.

Following a number of conciliation conferences, aproposal was made by management which wouldgive our members a 7% increase over the follow-

ing twelve months in return for the introduction ofa new shift pattern which included the option of24/7 running. There would also be a requirementto use an electronic time-recording system. Ourmembers rejected the proposal initially on thegrounds that they were not prepared to use anelectronic clocking system, but subsequentlystated they were seeking a higher premium whenworking night shift, and also sought that overtimebe paid after an eight hour day, rather than after39 hours have been worked in a week.

The matter was referred to the Labour Court,which found in favour of the union on shift pay andpayment of overtime, and recommended the in-troduction of electronic clocking on a PilotScheme basis. The Recommendation, with clarifi-cation on the implementation of the new workingpractices, was narrowly accepted at the end of2015.

Irish Museum of Modern ArtDiscussions took place in relation to restructuringin 2015. Management committed to full consulta-tion and a flexible time scale. We established jointsub-committees to examine the different areasand related needs. The new structure has been putin place and we are continuing to monitor itjointly.


Services Division

The Biennial Delegate Conference themed ‘Fight-ing for the Future of Work’ took place in LibertyHall, Dublin, on Thursday 24 November and Friday25 November 2016. It was chaired by DivisionalPresident Christy Waters. A total of 178 accrediteddelegates attended.

Financial Membership by Sector at year end 2015 2016

Arts and Culture 1,750 1,802Hotels Catering, Leisure Print and Media 6,862 6,661Security & Contract Cleaning. Insurance and Finance 11,785 11,362Wholesale Retail & Distribution 9,088 8,545TOTAL 29,285 28,370

Approximately two thirds of the members are maleand one third are female. Approximately 75% are ofIrish nationality and 25% non-Irish nationality.

Conference was addressed by the followingspeakers:

Jack O’Connor, SIPTU General President

Joe O’Flynn, SIPTU General Secretary

Gene Mealy, SIPTU Vice President

Frank Connolly, SIPTU Head of Communications

Paddy Moran, SIPTU Retired Members Section Secretary

Niamh Parsons, SIPTU Musicians union of Ireland

Viktorjia Nikitina, SIPTU Migrant Worker Support Network

Graham Seely, Arts and Culture Sector/Gansee Films

Patricia King, ICTU General Secretary

Michael Crosby, Change to Win

Ged Nash, Senator

Kerstin Howald, EFFAT Tourism Sector Secretary

Eddy Stam, UNI Property Services, Global Co-ordinator

Javier Carles, UNI Graphical and Packaging,

Global Co-ordinator

Dr Fintan Sheerin, TCD School of Nursing andMidwifery

The following motions were debated and adoptedby conference:

Freelance musicians The Arts and Culture Sector values the member-ship and participation of musicians within the Mu-sicians union of Ireland and recognises thedifficulties in organising freelance musicians in theunion. Accordingly, conference calls on the Divi-sional Committee to support the sector in reinvig-orating their efforts to develop the Musicians unionof Ireland with particular emphasis on organisingfreelance musicians.Submitted by: Arts and Culture Sector

RoyaltiesConference notes the precariousness of the workof artists and in particular those engaged as free-lance actors and musicians. Consequently, ac-knowledges that it is imperative that all industryagreements entered into on behalf of the member-ship make provision for the equitable remunera-tion for the exploitation of the performers workIrish Copyright Legislation so as to ensure the cor-rect payment of royalties and usage fees. Confer-ence recognises the difficulties associated withthe Competition legislation in pursuing these ob-jectives and pledges to continue high level of ac-tivity in challenging this barrier to progress so asto achieve better outcomes for members on theArts and Culture Sector.Submitted by: Arts and Culture Sector

Transfer of undertakings Conference recognises that thousands of mem-bers and potential members of SIPTU Services Di-vision work in industries in which competitivetendering and change of contractor is the norm.Workers in industries such as security, cleaning,catering, wholesaling and distribution frequentlyexperience a change in employer when contractstransfer from one contractor to another. The


Transfer of Undertakings Regulations are designedto safeguard workers in the event of a transfer andto establish the responsibilities of both the trans-feror and transferee employers. While mostunionised employers honour the Transfer of Under-takings Regulations, many employers do not applyTUPE, leaving workers in a vulnerable situation.Conference calls on the incoming Divisional Com-mittee to work in conjunction with the National Ex-ecutive Council to prioritise a campaign thatwould exert the necessary political pressure tostrengthen the TUPE regulations to provide for theautomatic transfer of employees where a contractis lost, and to broaden their scope to include pen-sions as a transferrable condition of employment.Submitted by: Services Divisional Committee

Duffy Cahill Report - ClerysThat this Conference calls on the National ExecutiveCouncil to lobby the Government for the implemen-tation of the recommended changes to legislationcontained in the Duffy/Cahill report.

The Government must be reminded of their com-mitment to legislate to ensure what happened tothe Clerys workers can never happen again. TheDuffy/Cahill report recommends changes to the lawto ensure that there are severe penalties for employ-ers who do not adhere to the minimum 30 day con-sultation period before implementing collectiveredundancies. The report also calls for the introduc-tion of a mechanism for recovering assets trans-ferred out of a business in certain circumstances. Submitted by: Wholesale Retail and DistributionSector

Living wageConference notes that within the hospitality,catering and leisure industries the vast majority ofemployees are not in receipt of a Living Wage. ALiving Wage is a wage which makes possible aminimum acceptable standard of living. It is evi-dence based and grounded in social consensusbased on the concept that work should provide anadequate income to enable individuals to afford asocially acceptable standard of living. The LivingWage Technical Group set out the average grosssalary, which will enable full time employed adults(without dependents) across Ireland to afford a so-cially acceptable standard of living. The currentrate is set at €11.50 per hour.

Given the present situation that the Irish HotelsFederation, Restaurants Association of Ireland andcatering employers have effectively vetoed the es-tablishment of Joint Labour Committees to setstatutory minimum wages and conditions forworkers and, in addition, given the low density oftrade union labour within the hospitality sector, itis imperative that work be done to secure a LivingWage for these workers. Accordingly, Conferencecalls on the Services Divisional Committee in con-junction with the National Executive Council to puttogether a strong and organised campaign for acollectively bargained Living Wage for vulnerableworkers with a guarantee of sufficient hours toearn a living income. Submitted by the Hotels, Catering, Print, Leisureand Media Sector

Zero hour / low hour contractsConference notes the recommendations con-tained in the University of Limerick Study of zerohours/low hours contracts, a study which wascommissioned by the Department of Jobs, Enter-prise and Innovation under the previous govern-ment. These recommendations, if implemented,would give much needed security of hours andearnings to tens of thousands of workers who con-tinue to suffer exploitation as a consequence ofthese contracts. Conference calls on the NationalExecutive Council to establish a political campaignto seek the implementation of these recommen-dationsSubmitted by: Security and Contract Cleaning,Insurance and Finance Sector

Make My Workplace Safe campaign Conference notes that over the last number ofyears there has been an organised campaign ledby the Irish Hotels Federation within the hospital-ity sector to drive down wages and to increasework volumes and pace. As a result, employers putpressure on accommodation staff to increase thenumber of rooms that are normally cleaned on ashift causing major concerns for the health, safetyand well-being of accommodation workers, themajority of whom are women and migrant work-ers. Hospitality workers are incurring injuries andfatigue at an alarming rate yet strangely there isno systematic inspection of the industry by theHealth and Safety Authority.

Conference calls on the incoming Divisional Com-mittee and the National Executive Council to sup-


Members of the Justice for Clerys Workerscampaign and supporters protest outsideClerys Department Store. Photo: RollingNews


port the Sector’s Make My Workplace Safe Cam-paign by lobbying Government and using what-ever means necessary to ensure that the Healthand Safety Authority conduct random inspectionsof hotels.Submitted by the Hotels, Catering, Print, Leisureand Media Sector

Controls on the cost of medicinesThat this Conference condemns the extremelyhigh cost of medicines which pharmacies chargein this country compared to other countries andcalls for an inquiry into the profits being made bypharmacies on all prescribed drugs. Conferencealso calls for the development of a price ceiling onprescribed drugs and for the abolition of prescrip-tion charges for medical card holdersSubmitted by: Retired Members Section

Safety in the home In recognising that retired workers, particularlythose living alone or in rural areas, have legitimatesecurity concerns, the retired members section re-quest that the incoming Divisional Committee, inconjunction with the District Councils, support aunion campaign to strongly impress on the De-partment of Justice the need to ensure older peo-ple are safe and secure in their homes.Submitted by: Retired Members Section

PensionsThat this conference notes that occupational pen-sion scheme coverage is low amongst workers inprivate sector services industries. Many workers inthe services sector are entirely dependent uponthe State Pension for their retirement income.Conference further notes that among workers whodo have the benefit of an occupational pensionscheme, there has been a dramatic collapse in theoverall number of Defined Benefit schemes and anincreasing lack of confidence in Defined Contribu-tion schemes.

Service sector workers now face even greaterchallenges with the elimination of the TransitionalPension from 65 years of age and the increase inPension Age to 67 in 2021 and 68 in 2028. Confer-ences calls on the National Executive Council andthe General Officers to sustain a campaign that willhighlight the difficulties workers are facing, re-verse the increase in pension age and put in placemeasures that will address the problem arising

from the elimination of the Transitional Pension. Conference further calls on the National ExecutiveCouncil to develop and implement a programmefor a proper, fully comprehensive, universally ap-plicable second pillar mandatory occupationalpension scheme through the establishment of aNational Superannuation Fund involving contribu-tions from employers, workers and Governmentwhich could be mandatory for those workers andemployers who are not already making second pil-lar contributions.Submitted by the Services Divisional Committee

The Division commissioned graphic artist DeclanPierce to create an art piece live at conferencewhich would act as a record of the main themesdebated by delegates and addressed by speakers. Awards for Outstanding Contributions to union Ac-tivism were made to the activists who are leadingthe Division’s Justice for Clerys Workers Cam-paign, John Crowe, John Finn, Gerry Markey andAlan O’Brien, who are all Shop Stewards and toSusie McGowan who is a campaign activist. Ademonstration was held outside Clerys Depart-ment Store on the second day of conference.

Delegate workshops were held on the followingthemes: 1) Fighting for a Living Wage and 2) Pro-tecting Workers in a Transfer (TUPE). The LivingWage workshop was addressed by Marie Sher-lock, SIPTU Policy Research Unit and chaired byMargaret Coffey, Divisional Vice President. TheTUPE workshop was addressed by Rachel Ryan,SIPTU Legal Rights Unit and chaired by ChristyHughes, Divisional Committee member. Rappor-teurs Garret O’Brien and Margaret Coffey reportedon the debate and outcomes to the plenary ses-sion.

A highly enjoyable social for delegates and unionstaff was held on the first night of conference inthe Cois Life Bar in Liberty Hall. union band Indus-trial Dispute entertained everyone on the night inwhat was their first public performance.

Divisional CommitteeThe following served on the Divisional Committeefor the period January 2015 – November 2016:

Christy Waters (President) Security Contract Cleaning and Insurance and Finance


Margaret Coffey (Vice President)Hotels, Catering, Leisure Print and Media

Shirley BradshawArts and Culture

Tim HerlihyHotels, Catering, Leisure Print and Media

Mary McBride Security Contract Cleaning and Insurance and Finance

Sean McNamaraSecurity Contract Cleaning and Insurance and Finance

Brendan McNameeSecurity Contract Cleaning and Insurance and Finance

Malcolm MoranSecurity Contract Cleaning and Insurance and Finance

Padraig MurrayArts and Culture

Edel O’Neill Wholesale Retail Distribution

Mary O’SullivanSecurity Contract Cleaning and Insurance and Finance

Eddie ReidWholesale Retail Distribution

Trevor SkeltonWholesale Retail Distribution

Maureen StewartWholesale Retail Distribution

Gary RonaghanSecurity Contract Cleaning and Insurance and Finance

Vincent TynanHotels, Catering, Leisure Print and Media

Ethel WoodsSecurity Contract Cleaning and Insurance and Finance

The following were elected as the incoming Divisional Committee 2017 – 2023 in November2016:

Margaret Coffey (President) Hotels, Catering, Leisure Print and Media

Gary Smith (Vice President) Security Contract Cleaning and Insurance and Finance

Liam Ahern

Wholesale Retail Distribution

Ian BlackSecurity Contract Cleaning and Insurance and Finance

Maureen Brady Northern Ireland

Larry DugganRetired Members

John FitzgeraldWholesale Retail Distribution

James FlynnHotels, Catering, Leisure Print and Media

Pat FoxHotels, Catering, Leisure Print and Media

Christy HughesWholesale Retail Distribution

Mary McBride Security Contract Cleaning and Insurance and Finance

Padraig MurrayArts and Culture

Garret O’BrienSecurity Contract Cleaning and Insurance and Finance

Christine QuinnSecurity Contract Cleaning and Insurance and Finance

Eddie ReidWholesale Retail Distribution

Rosaleen RyanSecurity Contract Cleaning and Insurance and Finance

Catherine SmithWholesale Retail Distribution

Gary SmithSecurity Contract Cleaning and Insurance and Finance

Christy WatersSecurity Contract Cleaning and Insurance and Finance

Ethel WoodsHotels, Catering, Leisure Print and Media

National Executive Council

The following served on the National ExecutiveCouncil 2015 – 2016:

Bernie CaseyHotels, Catering, Leisure Print and Media

Margaret EganWholesale Retail Distribution

Christy Waters

124 SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016124 SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016

Republic of Irelandwomen’s team make

a stand for equaltreatment.


Security Contract Cleaning and Insurance and Finance

Ethel WoodsHotels, Catering, Leisure Print and Media

Tim Daly (Trustee)Security Contract Cleaning and Insurance and Finance

The following were elected by secret ballot voteto serve on the National Executive Council 2017 –2023 at the Division’s Biennial Delegate Confer-ence in November 2016:

Tim HerlihyHotels, Catering, Leisure Print and Media

Mary O’SullivanSecurity Contract Cleaning and Insurance and Finance

Catherine SmithWholesale Retail Distribution

Christy WatersSecurity Contract Cleaning and Insurance and Finance

Trevor Skelton (Trustee) Wholesale Retail Distribution

Standing Orders CommitteeJohn Fitzgerald (Chair)Wholesale Retail Distribution Ian BlackSecurity Contract Cleaning and Insurance and Finance John KeeganHotels Catering Print Leisure MediaAnn RussellArts and Culture

National Equality CommitteeAnn RussellArts and CultureMary Van GelderSecurity Contract Cleaning and Insurance and Finance

Arts & Culture Sector Committee as and fromMarch 2016Padraig Murray – PresidentShirley Bradshaw – Vice PresidentAnn RussellEamon MurrayEoin StapletonMarguerite SheridanDiarmuid O RuisealNaimh ParsonsLiam Kennedy – non votingAlan Moran – non voting

Hotels Catering Print Leisure & Media SectorCommittee as and from March 2016Margaret Coffey, President Ethel Woods, Vice President Pat Fox Gerald GillMary GoldenTony KellyJurate NorvaisieneJames FlynnBrendan McNameeVincent Tynan

Security Contract Cleaning Insurance & FinanceSector Committee as and from March 2016Christy Waters, PresidentTeresa Thompson, Vice PresidentMary McBride Christine Quinn Rosaleen Ryan Eugene RyanPeter FoxTony PriorIan BlackMalcolm MoranGarret O’BrienMary MurrayBalazs SandorJason OwensMichael WhyteViktorija NikitinaMalcolm MoranRachel KeaneColm O’MalleyRomeo DragomirCynthia White Derek HeffernanMartin Vanecek ex-officioGary Smith ex-officio

Wholesale Retail & Distribution Sector Commit-tee as and from March 2016 John Finn, PresidentSusie Gaynor, Vice PresidentCatherine Smith Liam AhernNoel DurackJohn Fitzgerald Christy HughesEamon MurtaghJames Dunphy Patrick SweeneyOlive ConnollyEmma Keane


Susan RoperDarren Murtagh

Division StaffEthel Buckley Divisional OrganiserTeresa Hannick Sector Organiser,

Wholesale Retail DistributionDenis Hynes Sector Organiser, Arts and

Culture Diane Jackson Sector Organiser, Security

and Contract Cleaning, Insurance and Finance

Ed Kenny Sector Organiser, Hotels Catering Print Leisure Media

Kieron Connolly Industrial OrganiserPeadar Nolan Assistant OrganiserJerry Browne Assistant OrganiserBrendan Carr Assistant OrganiserDerek Casserly Assistant OrganiserAisling Dunne* Assistant OrganiserSandra Flanagan* Assistant OrganiserPaul Hansard Assistant OrganiserGraham Macken Assistant OrganiserBarney Maguire Assistant OrganiserPearse McCarthy Assistant Organiser Andrew McGuinness Assistant OrganiserMartin Mannion Assistant Organiser Paula O’Loughlin Assistant OrganiserCara O’Neill Assistant OrganiserJoanna Ozdarska Assistant OrganiserRobbie Purfield Assistant OrganiserTrevor Quinn Assistant OrganiserMyles Worth Assistant OrganiserCatherine Critchley Administrative AssistantSilvana Finn Administrative AssistantAileen Graham Administrative AssistantAndrea Holmes Administrative AssistantPeggy Rafter Administrative Assistant

*Does not work permanently in the Services Division

REVIEW OF THE DIVISIONThe Divisional Committee commissioned a review ofthe Division in September 2015. A review was con-ducted between October 2015 and November 2016by the Ideas Institute. overseen by the DivisionalCommittee. Working with the Division, the Ideas In-stitute designed a structured consultative processwhich involved wide scale consultation with electedrepresentatives on Sub-Sector Committees, SectorCommittees, the Divisional Committee, the NationalExecutive Council and all Divisional staff.

A report on the outcomes was presented to thebiennial delegate conference by the Divisional Organiser in November 2016. The Divisional Com-mittee elected in November 2016 to serve from2017 to 2023 held a 2-day strategy meeting on 5and 6 December 2016 the purpose of which wasto examine the outcomes of the consultation andto devise a developmental programme aimed atimproving the Division. The Divisional Committeedecided by majority vote to apply to the NationalExecutive Council for approval to introduce a re-vised Sectoral structure for the Division as follows:

Existing Structure - Proposed StructureIn addition to restructuring the Sectors, the Divi-sional Committee decided to apply to the NationalExecutive for approval to introduce a regionalisedstructure the objective of which would be to con-nect better with members on the ground, and toimprove organising capacity taking account of theparticular characteristics of workers in the servicesindustries.

ARTS AND CULTURE SECTOR

The Sector comprises the following sub-sectors: BroadcastingCinemasFilm and EntertainmentIrish EquityIrish Film BoardMusicians union of Ireland

The greatest challenge facing members is the pre-carious nature of working as a performer and earn-ing a living in the arts and culture sector. Acreeping trend of ‘pay to play’ whereby perform-ers are required to pay for auditions is exacerbat-ing the challenges which our members are facing.The inability of the union to collectively bargain forcertain categories of freelance workers such as

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musicians and voice-over actors has been an ad-ditional on-going and fundamental challenge. In 2004 the Competition Authority ruled that a col-lective agreement between Irish Equity and the In-stitute of Advertising Practitioners in Ireland inrespect of voice-overs by freelance actors was inbreach of competition law on the basis that eachactor was a self-employed contractor – a separateundertaking, in effect – and therefore it was unlaw-ful for any group to collectively fix prices for voiceover services. The ruling had a very detrimentalimpact on the livelihoods of actors and otherworkers such as musicians, journalists and photog-raphers in freelance trades upon whose behalfSIPTU and the NUJ had traditionally bargained.

The Sector, supported by the Division, the GeneralOfficers and other SIPTU departments, has cam-paigned since the ruling for a reversal of its chillingeffect by way of an exemption for certain cate-gories of freelance workers from the CompetitionAct. A breakthrough came in the campaign in De-cember 2015 when the Competition (Amendment)Bill was introduced by Senator Ivana Bacik, LabourParty, as a Private Member’s Bill in the Seanad. TheBill proposes to amend the Competition Act 2002to give effect to a previous Government commit-ment given in “Towards 2016 Review and Transi-tional Agreement 2008-2009 - Amendment of theCompetition Act 2002” to exempt actors engagedas voice-over actors, musicians engaged as ses-sion musicians and journalists engaged as free-lance journalists from Section 4 of the CompetitionAct 2002.

Throughout 2016 the union, working in conjunc-tion with the NUJ, has been undertaking a politicallobbying campaign in support of the passage ofthe Bill through the Houses of the Oireachtas. ByNovember 2016, the Competition (Amendment)Bill 2016 had passed through Seanad Éireann withall party support following the acceptance ofamendments proposed by the Minister for Jobs,Enterprise and Innovation, Mary Mitchell O’Connor.

The Sector continued to engage with the leadingproducers in the country in order to maintain a di-alogue on the major challenges at an industry leveland to find potential industry issues of commonconcern, as well as engaging the performers’agents. The Sector collaborated with Screen Train-ing Ireland to offer two training courses for mem-bers in the Film and Entertainment sub-sectorcovering make-up artist skills and prosthetics at

beginner and advanced levels.

The Sector has a large and active membership em-ployed in public broadcasting. Public broadcast-ing faces a number of challenges which cannot bedealt with without direct Government interven-tion. The continued decline in funding for RTE hasled to reductions in the service and created insta-bility in employment. The sector believes thatthere needs to be a more stable funding modeland is actively developing a campaign which willaddress this issue.

In RTE, pay restoration remains the Sector’s prior-ity along with ending the overuse by the employerof self-employed and freelance contracts. In RTEand TG4 agreement was reached on pay restora-tion following pay cuts in 2007.

Priority was given to progressing the negotiationsof the Indigenous Irish TV Drama Agreement forActors to provide for Royalties and Use Fees. Anagreement that included Use Fees was alsoreached for the new TV3 soap Red Rock. Newscheduling terms were agreed for the actors inFair City and improved terms for the TV playerwere agreed.

FIA World Live Performance Conference The flagship event for the Sector in the periodunder review was the highly successful four-dayconference which took place in Liberty Hall in Au-gust 2015. In conjunction with Equity UK, Irish Eq-uity hosted this event, along with an InternationalFederation of Actors executive meeting and withmeetings of the North American and EnglishSpeaking Groups. Over 200 performers and theirrepresentatives attended the conference, whichwas formally opened by the President of IrelandMichael D. Higgins. The event greatly enhancedthe profile and reputation of Equity and SIPTU inthe international community of trade unions in thearts and culture sector.

International activity The Sector is a very active participant in interna-tional trade union activity, participating in the In-ternational Federation of Actors, the InternationalFederation of Musicians and on the two EU SocialDialogue Committees for Live Performance and forAudio Visual work. The Sector continues to ac-tively engage with Equity UK through the Ire-land/UK Action Group. In conjunction with EquityUK, the Sector organised a series of workshops formembers and agents on contracts and residual


rights. A total of 45 members participated over atwo day period.

In order to address the issue of collective bar-gaining rights for atypical workers in the arts andculture industries internationally, the Sector par-ticipated in a European project on atypical work-ers which comprised four workshops which werejointly organised by three international federa-tions to which SIPTU is affiliated (the Interna-tional Federation of Musicians, the InternationalFederation of Actors and UNI’s Media, Entertain-ment and Arts Sector), along with the Interna-tional Federation of Journalists. Workshopthemes include:

Lobbying for social rights of atypical workers andproviding services to atypical workers Collective bargaining for atypical workers Fighting bogus self-employment and Organising strategies of unions to reach out toatypical workers. SIPTU and the NUJ hosted the collective bargain-ing workshop in Dublin on 8 September 2016.

Health and safetyIn 2016 Equity published guidelines for dealingwith bullying and harassment in the arts. These fol-lowed on from a survey that demonstrated thatmore than half of workers who responded had ei-ther experienced or witnessed bullying and/or ha-rassment, including sexual harassment, in thecourse of their work. The Sector also engaged onthe issue with a number of stakeholders including:the Arts Council, the Irish Film Board, Dublin CityArts Office and Screen Training Ireland.

Organising The Sector’s main organising activities were un-dertaken by way of theatre visits, set visits and re-newed focus on cinemas. Priority was also givento density building and organising broadcast pro-fessionals. Regular visits to drama schools wereundertaken to inform students of the work and ac-tivities of the union and to impress upon them thebenefits of union membership, as well as increas-ing their understanding of the nature of contractsin the Sector and the need for them to know theirrights as professional performers. The Executive ofthe Musicians union of Ireland set about workingon a set of objectives to promote the growth ofthe MUI under the campaign theme ‘Fair Play forMusicians’.

Membership The Sector enjoyed a growth in membership in theperiod under review. In 2015 the Sector saw 165new members join the union and 124 membersleave. 246 new members joined in 2016 and 117left. Sector membership stood at 1,802 at year endin 2016, which was an increase of 52 over the previous year.

HOTELS CATERING PRINTLEISURE MEDIA SECTOR It is evident that the employers in the hospitalityindustry are now pursuing an industrial strategy oflow wages and large scale casualisation. Followingthe collapse of the Joint Labour Committee sys-tem in 2011, due to the High Court decision inthe John Grace case, the Sector has been engagedin numerous battles to protect members from at-tacks on wages and conditions.

Despite the fact that the legislative framework isin place for Joint Labour Committees in both thehotel and the catering industries, and that thereare functioning JLCs in other industries, the em-ployer bodies in hotels and catering refuse to es-tablish a JLC for these industries. The effectiveveto of the employer bodies on a national statu-tory wage setting mechanism is having an ex-tremely detrimental impact on the livelihoods ofworkers in the hospitality industry.

For most workers, the national minimum wage isnow the norm and work is becoming increasinglycasual in nature. Workers in both industries aresubjected to involuntary low working hours andzero hours contracts are a regular feature. One ofthe largest contract catering companies in Ireland,a global corporation, uses zero hours contracts asits standard employment contract for Catering As-sistants.

While refusing to co-operate with the Joint LabourCommittee system, and at a time of record touristrevenues and hotel bedroom rates, the hospitalityindustry continues to enjoy a preferential VAT rate.The reduced VAT rate in the tourism and hospital-ity sector of 9% (from 12.5%) was originally intro-duced in 2011. The annual cost in lost revenue tothe State of the reduced VAT rate is €350 million.A staggering €1.4 billion has been lost to theState’s coffers between the introduction of thesubsidy in 2011 and 2016. This cost has been metdirectly by workers. The private sector pensionlevy was introduced in the same budget as the re-


duced VAT rate and the finances generated by thelevy imposed on private sector workers were usedto offset the cost of the tourism and hospitalitysubsidy.

Throughout 2015 and 2016 SIPTU continued tocampaign for an end to the reduced VAT rate aslong as the employers vetoed the JLC system. Thecontinuing hostility, and lack of engagement fromemployers in this sector with a mechanism thatcould provide a living wage and acceptable con-ditions of employment to their employees, is to-tally incompatible with the maintenance of statesubsidies. The Sector has argued that a state sub-sidy implies a social contract. In other words, anindustry which receives benefits from the state onthe one hand, cannot ignore state policy in rela-tion to wage setting on the other.

Since 2014, the Sector has been lodging payclaims at local level in the hotels and cateringcompanies that recognise the union for collectivebargaining. Steady progress is being made withthe Sector achieving basic pay increases of 2% -3% over 12 months. Details can be found in the payagreements table on page?

In December 2016 it was announced that the LowPay Commission was going to undertake a reviewof the deductions allowable under the MinimumWage Act for board and lodgings. The Division im-mediately came out and said it would oppose anyincrease in the deductions.

Zero hours contracts/if and when contractsThe issue of involuntary low working hours and theproliferation of zero hours, and ‘if and when’ con-tracts is a major issue for the Sector as it is in othersectors of the Division and the union. SIPTU wasinvited to make a submission in response to a Uni-versity of Limerick ‘Study on the Prevalence ofZero Hours Contracts.’ The Department of Jobs,Enterprise and Innovation subsequently indicatedthat it wished to address some of the recommen-dations in the study and that this would requirelegislative change. In October 2016 an engage-ment between representatives of the ICTU PrivateSector Committee and senior officials in the De-partment of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation com-menced on the issue of working hours. TheDepartment is engaging with IBEC on the em-ployer side.

Fair Hotels Campaign In 2016 the Sector decided to review the Fair Ho-tels campaign. A new Fair Hotels agreement isbeing devised and plans are underway to bring aninternational dimension to the campaign. Theglobal hotels federation, the IUF, sought SIPTU’spermission to use the Fair Hotels logo and brand-ing for a global consumer campaign to encourageconsumers to use unionised hotels. SIPTU agreedand the IUF commenced work on an online portalwhich would feature unionised hotels around theworld. The largest hotels union in the world, UNITEHERE which operates in the USA and Canada, sub-sequently adopted the strategy and is activelyrunning a Fair Hotels campaign.

Health and Safety In 2015 the Sector launched its ‘Make my Work-place Safe’ campaign to address serious issues inrelation to health and safety for hotel housekeep-ers. The Sector is aware of numerous workers whohave sustained muscular skeletal injuries at workthat prevent them from working. In the main, thisis attributable to a trend in the industry of in-creased productivity which the union refers to as‘speed up.’ Managements in certain hotels haveunilaterally increased the number of rooms to becleaned by workers during a shift to a level whichis unsafe. It is notable that the increase in produc-tivity demanded by the employers coincided witha modest increase in the national minimum wage.

Contract CateringThe contract catering industry is growing at arapid pace in Ireland, with more and more clientsin both the public and private sector outsourcingthe preparation and serving of food in their can-teens and restaurants. SIPTU presently representsworkers in the 6 major companies. Together theyemploy over 80% of workers in the industry. Theyare Aramark, Sodexo, Compass, Kylemore, Corpo-rate Catering and Baxter Storey. In 2015 the Divi-sion entered into a pilot collaborative initiative inMunster with the Pharmaceutical, Chemicals andMedical Devices Sector to jointly organise contractcaterers where the direct staff are organised in theManufacturing Division. The ‘One Site One union’initiative is achieving modest membership growthand is very successful in putting in place organisa-tion and developing Shop Stewards. This is ofgreat value because our organisation has tendedto be weak in contract catering. The plan is to ex-


tend the One Site One union approach beyondMunster and to collaborate with other Sectors inthe union along the same lines.

SportThe golf club industry was very badly hit by theeconomic collapse and has been slower to re-bound than other industries. We continue to seea large number of redundancies in the sector. Wehave experienced job losses at Waterford GolfClub, Limerick Golf Club, Lahinch Golf Club andKilkenny Golf Club. In the horse racing industry,our members employed in the Curragh Race-course underwent a Transfer of Undertakings in2015. In the bookmakers and betting sector, ourmembers employed in Ladbrokes have been in-volved in a major restructuring following the com-pany going into receivership. This resulted in theSector losing over 70 members due to redundan-cies in 2015.

The Professional Footballers’ Association of Irelandis affiliated to the Sector. Throughout 2016 wehave been running an organising campaign in theLeague of Ireland clubs and have seen a steady in-crease in membership. The national women’s foot-ball team has decided to unionise but to date theFAI has refused to recognise the PFAI/SIPTU forcollective bargaining purposes.

LeisureBetting shops have been very badly affected bythe growth in popularity of online betting. As wellas redundancies, our betting shop members areconfronting concerns in relation to single personmanning, with concerns in relation to theft andstand offs in the shops. Following extensive nego-tiations with Shannon Heritage, our members se-cured two increments that were outstanding. InMalahide Castle SIPTU has organised the employ-ment and achieved improvements to salary.

Print and MediaThe print industry continues to face challengingtimes. Many problems are caused by the declinein newspaper circulation and the growth of onlineplatforms and social media. However, the Sectorhas secured pay increases averaging 2% perannum for a number of employments. In VirginMedia the Sector was involved in a major restruc-turing which resulted with the loss of over 120SIPTU members’ jobs. The redundancy terms were

satisfactory and the employer was oversub-scribed for the package. In Golden Pages, follow-ing local negotiations and third party intervention,the Sector lost over 12 members who were en-gaged in sales. Brexit is a major concern to com-panies involved in the packaging business.

The Sector participates in the Dublin Print Groupof unions. Bringing about a new registered em-ployment agreement for the industry is a focus ofthe DPGU. Since the loss of the REA in the print in-dustry following the Supreme Court decision inthe McGowan case, unionised employments havebeen under threat from non-union competitors at-tempting to undercut them.

In the Central Bank the employer presented a planregarding the possible restructuring of the printdepartment. The Sector engaged the services ofMazars to assist us in defending our members’ po-sition.

International activity The Sector participates in the European Social Di-alogue Committee for the Hospitality Industry andis an active affiliate of both the IUF and EFFAT. In2016 the Sector connected with UNI’s Graphicaland Packaging Sector.

Sector Membership The number of members leaving union member-ship continued to exceed the number of workersjoining the Sector in the period under review.1,084 workers joined and 1,442 left in 2015. In 20161,082 joined and 1,417 left. Sector financial mem-bership at year end 2016 was 6,661.

Membership decline is primarily attributable to thevery large number of redundancies endured byworkers in the Sector.

SECURITY CONTRACT CLEANINGAND INSURANCE AND FINANCESECTOR

Security and Contract Cleaning The inaugural meetings of the newly establishedJoint Labour Committees for Contract Cleaning andSecurity Officers took place in the summer of 2014.With the support of the Policy Research Unit, theSector then engaged in extensive research and pol-icy work with the objective of formulating propos-als for a new Employment Regulation Order in both


industries. SIPTU Shop Stewards and Organisersrepresenting the workers side on the JLCs engagedin extensive negotiations with the employer side ofthe JLC over many months. Employment RegulationOrders were finally signed off for both industries on1 October 2015 by the Minister for Employment andSmall Business, Ged Nash. The Contact CleaningERO applies to somewhere in the region of 30,000contract cleaners. The Security ERO applies tosomewhere in the region of 17,000 Security Officers.

The main provisions of the EROs which becamelegally effective from that date were as follows:

Contract CleaningA minimum rate of pay of €9.75

Trade union representation rights

Overtime rates

Death in service benefit

Good Friday treated as a Public Holiday for clean-ers employed before August 2012 (and those em-ployed after 2012 who have contractual provisionsfor Good Friday)

Certificate showing length of service

30-day notice of change of contractor

SecurityA minimum pay rate of €10.75

A new and improved sick pay scheme

An end to workers paying for uniforms

Personal attack benefit if attacked on duty – up to26 weeks basic pay plus physical and psychologi-cal support

Death in service benefit

On-site facilities guaranteed

A certificate of length of service

All existing terms and conditions secured

The Sector immediately rolled out a ground cam-paign of engagement with members and potentialmembers on the terms of the EROs. The need tobuild density among contract cleaners and secu-rity officers to provide the union with strong lever-age to make bigger and better gains for members’pay and terms and conditions of employment in

future ERO negotiations was the message of thecampaign. The Sector also engaged in an exten-sive drive to police the application of the ERO anddespite some initial issues, in the main, employershave been compliant. A small number of com-plaints were referred to the Workplace RelationsCommission on behalf of our members by theWorkers’ Rights Centre with a few other casesbeing notified to NERA.

During the course of 2015 both JLCs reconvenedto discuss the provisions of the next ERO. Work onthe next security ERO was well advanced by year-end in 2016, SIPTU negotiators focussed on an in-dustrial agenda that included an increase in theminimum rates of pay to the level of the LivingWage during the course of a new ERO, along witha statutory guarantee of minimum hours and an im-provement in sick pay benefit.

On 27 October 2016, a new ERO was signed off bythe Minister for Employment and Small Business,Pat Breen. The cumulative pay increase over the36 months of the agreement is in excess of 10%.The main provisions of the new ERO are as follows:

Minimum pay rate of €10.05 from 26 December 2016



An end to deductions for uniforms

Advance notice of rosters

Statement of terms and conditions in a TUPE situation

New policy on wage shortagesThe Sector has also been working on advancingthe pay of our members in both the Cleaning andSecurity industries whose pay rate is in excess ofthe minimum ERO terms. These workers have notreceived any increase in their wages since at least2008. Pay claims were lodged and were progress-ing through the Industrial Relations procedures.

In STT security members balloted on a LabourCourt Recommendation regarding pay and the re-classification of the role of Security Guard on theLuas. Members rejected the Labour Court recom-mendation and talks are ongoing with the com-pany on the matter.

In IRMS Security (Seneca) on the Shell pipelinecontract in Mayo there was industrial unrest as aconsequence of the company’s proposal to re-duce the number of Security Officers on site dueto the downsizing of a construction project. Our


members engaged in official industrial action (aone day stoppage) when the company unilaterallyterminated the contracts of 10 members by wayof compulsory redundancy. The company also uni-laterally reduced our members’ contracted hoursof work and refused to attend the Labour Court ona number of operational issues. Members ac-cepted proposals which emerged following aprocess of facilitated talks. The proposals includedthe reinstatement of all members and the volun-tary redundancy of 21 members on enhancedterms.

Cash in TransitIn the Cash in Transit segment of the security in-dustry, the Sector initiated engagement with theemployers on the establishment of a Sector Em-ployment Order for the industry under the new In-dustrial Relations (Amendment) Act 2015.Engagement had commenced with the Irish Secu-rity Industry Association and the two main em-ployers in the industry, Brinks and G4S. A JointIndustrial Council was set up chaired by the WRC.Good progress was being made until Brinks an-nounced its exit from the CIT industry at the startof 2016. Pay agreements were won by the Sectoron behalf of our members in both G4S and Brinks.The Sector is concerned about the growth of non-union companies and has been continuously mak-ing efforts to organise these workers.

TUPETransfer of Undertakings continues to be a featureof both these industries as contractors competeagainst each other for new business. The enact-ment of the EROs has brought about a level play-ing field in respect of pay rates and this hasincentivised the compliance with TUPE somewhat.However, the Sector continues to campaign for theamendment of the Transfer of Undertakings Regulationsto afford the same legal protections to contract serviceworkers as all other employees affected by a takeover.

Employers seeking cuts to hours of work followingthe awarding of contracts continues to be a fea-ture. This gives rise to a very difficult situation formembers as issues in relation to loss of hours andworkload have to be tackled. However, the Sectorstrategy is to resist the cuts wherever we have theleverage to do so and to reach agreement basedon voluntary relocation to other contracts as wellas to seek compensation for any loss of earnings.On the workload issue we are insisting on a formalreview after a three month trial period.

Resource Cleaning and Security was taken over bythe Noonan Services Group in 2014 with all ourmembers transferring under TUPE to Noonan. 2015saw the exit of Brinks static guarding from the Se-curity industry with most of the contracts takenover by the Noonan Services Group, again with allof the Security Officers affected transferring underTUPE.

Laundries Our members employed in laundries have enduredwide scale cuts to pay and conditions, and redun-dancies. The existence of non-union, minimumwage, low cost operators in the industry has hada negative impact. As with the contract servicesindustries, clients in the laundry industry regularlydrive down supplier costs with a knock-effect onpay and working conditions. However, despitethese challenges, the Sector has initiated payclaims in a number of employments in an effort toclaw back some of the lost ground.

In Celtic Linen we engaged on behalf of our mem-bers with management on a major restructuring /turnaround plan following a review of its financialsituation. SIPTU’s IDEAS institute worked closelywith the parties during the past number of yearsto secure the future of the company.

Insurance and FinanceThere were large scale redundancies across thebanking industry with the loss of hundreds of jobsfollowing the banking crisis. In recent years wehave seen a major roll out by the banks of elec-tronic and self-service banking. Over the past twoyears the Sector has battled in the Insurance andFinance industries on issues such as restructuring,redundancy and outsourcing. In 2015 ACC an-nounced the outsourcing of the Wealth Manage-ment Book to Willis followed by an announcementabout the outsourcing of the loan book to Capita,which resulted in the transfer of the majority ofstaff in March 2016. AIB announced its decision tooutsource its Internal Support Services includingsecurity, cleaning and porter grades to the Noo-nan Services Group. Noonan and the Bank also em-barked on a major restructuring of these serviceswhich resulted in over 100 redundancies acrossthe country in 2015. Our members in Zurich jour-neyed through a major restructuring which re-sulted in voluntary redundancies and therelocation of some staff to their offices in Wexford.

Despite the rationalisation agenda advanced by


the employers, the union can report good successin the achievement of pay increases for our mem-bers in Axa, the Bar Council, credit unions and thebanks (see wage agreements on page 139-140 fordetails).

We saw a move by the main players, Bank of Ire-land, AIB and Ulster Bank to performance relatedpay systems. Negotiations resulted in the buy-outof pre-existing incremental pay scales. A similarpay model exists in Ericsson. Performance relatedpay models which adjust employees’ pay basedon an appraisal by a line manager raises many con-cerns not alone for our Sector but across theunion. It has required a strategy to be developedby the Sector, and the union generally, on howbest to conduct negotiations in the context of thissystem of pay determination.

Credit unions In 2015 and 2016 the Sector rolled out a strategyof lodging claims for increases in pay for our mem-bers. Pay agreements resulted in the reinstate-ment of incremental pay and pay increases ofbetween 2% and 3% (see wage agreements onpage 139-140 for details). Following a directivefrom the Central Bank in 2014 to reduce by half thenumber of credit unions operating in the Republicof Ireland, mergers became a major feature. Theinitial stages saw the merger of smaller Creditunions operating with volunteers. However, dur-ing the course of 2015 and 2016 we saw themerger of Credit unions involving staff, many ofwhom are members of our union. Issues relating toTransfer of Undertakings, protection of terms andconditions of employment, restructuring, redun-dancies and harmonisation of pay, and terms andconditions of employment post-transfer, were tothe fore.

International activityThe Sector participates in the European Social Di-alogue Committees for Contract Cleaning and Pri-vate Security. As part of the contact cleaningsocial dialogue, the Sector is participating in thedrawing up of a best practice guide for procure-ment of cleaning services. The Division continuesto play a very active role in UNI Global’s Property Serv-ices Division and sits on both the Global Steering Commit-tee and the UNI Europa Steering Committee.

Sector MembershipThe Sector enjoyed a strong level of workers join-ing in both 2015 and 2016 with 2,121 and 2,178

joiners respectively. However, the number ofmembers leaving continued to out-number thenumber joining at 2,887 in 2015 and 2,344 in 2016,resulting in an overall decrease in Sector member-ship to 11,262 by year end in 2016.

Membership decline is attributable to two mainfactors: a large number of redundancies and thehigh level of TUPEs. TUPEs are a constant chal-lenge in the context of retaining members with thenew employer post-transfer. We have identified agrowing trend amongst employers to no longerautomatically deduct union subscriptions from thewages of our members transferring to them. Con-sequently, our members’ union membership lapsesunless they contact the union to reactivate it. TheSector has now put measures in place to trackmembership in a TUPE situation to ensure that weretain our members with the new employer.

WHOLESALE RETAIL DISTRIBUTION AND RELATEDSECTORThe Wholesale Retail Distribution and Related Sec-tor comprises diverse employments across a num-ber of industries. In the Wholesale and Distributionindustries there are large road freight and logisticsfirms, independent courier companies, nationalwholesale companies and smaller specialisedwholesalers. Some of these employments concen-trate solely on distribution or wholesale, while oth-ers combine both activities. Companies involvedin the transport and distribution of petrochemicalproducts, including fuels and gas fuels are alsopart of the Sector. National supermarket chains,department stores, chemists’ shops, hairdressers,barbers and corner shops make up some of theemployments in the Sector’s retail sub-sector.

The period under review continued to be ex-tremely challenging for many of our members withredundancies, closures, cost-saving restructuringand changes to Defined Benefit pension schemesremaining a feature across the Sector.

Cost Saving Measures/Restructuring The Sector set out a strategy to avoid permanentreductions in pay and terms and conditions whiledealing with cost saving and restructuring plans.Part of the Sector’s strategy is to look at payfreezes, unpaid leave and other temporary meas-ures when our members are faced with employersseeking to cut labour cost.

134 SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016

In 2014 after a long negotiating period, includingconciliation hearings in the LRC/WRC and aLabour Court Hearing, agreement was reached ona Cost Reduction Plan in Eason’s. Permanent paycuts were avoided and a temporary pay reductionand increment freeze was agreed, as well as fourunpaid leave days per year. All pay and incrementswere restored on 1 May 2016.

In 2015, in Johnson Brothers a similar agreementon unpaid leave was reached. The company hadsought a pay reduction, reductions in allowancesand a reduction in the company contribution tothe pension. These were avoided by the agree-ment of four unpaid leave days per year.

Protracted negotiations took place at local leveland the WRC, and are ongoing in relation to a pro-posal by Tesco to migrate members employedpre-1997 onto a post-2006 contract. The originalproposal would have seen cuts in basic pay andchanges to working hours patterns. Members bal-loted for industrial action and issued notice on thecompany to protect their position. A full LabourCourt hearing took place in October 2016.

In Hastings Volkswagen car dealership in West-port, Co May, members balloted for strike actionin restructuring dispute over compulsory redun-dancies. A Labour Court hearing into the issue washeld in November 2016. The employer refused toimplement the recommendation which providedfor enhanced redundancy terms.

Pay Strategy Some of our members were successful in achiev-ing improvements in pay during the period underreview. The Sector set out to achieve basic pay in-creases without any concessions or productivitymeasures. Part of the strategy was to seek modestpay increases of 1% to 2.5% of basic pay for 12 to24 months with a commitment to a follow-on payagreement. Some of the pay agreements were ne-gotiated and agreed at local negotiations, somerequired the assistance of the Workplace RelationsCommission and a small number were referred tothe Labour Court.

TUPE A number of major TUPEs took place over the pe-riod under review. Hoyer lost the fuel distributioncontract for Esso garages supplied by Topaz.Reynolds Logistics took over the contract in April2016. Our members in Dublin Port issued strike no-

tice in a dispute over redundancy. Stobart lost theTesco distribution contract (Ballymun and Don-abate distributions centres). DHL took over thecontract in October 2016. A number of outstand-ing Stobart third party cases were still in processalong with a case at the District Court for the en-forcement of an EAT determination dating back towhen Stobart won the contract. Reynolds Logis-tics lost the Topaz fuel distribution contract whichwas won by Stobart and East Coast. After a diffi-cult set of negotiations with the transferees, mem-bers transferred to the two new companies andcollective bargaining was established.

Statutory Apprenticeships In 2016 the Apprenticeship Council advised us thatthe employer body in the haulage industry, theIrish Road Hauliers Associations had successfullylobbied for the introduction of statutory appren-ticeships for HGV Drivers. The Division made a sub-mission to SOLAS raising serious concernsregarding the lack of trade union involvement inthe industry-led consortium established to de-velop the apprenticeships and demanding that theapprentice contracts be the subject of sectoralcollective bargaining. A similar case was made forthe Commis Chef apprenticeship which the em-ployer bodies in the hospitality industry, the IrishHotels Federation and Restaurants Association ofIreland had lobbied for. In the motor trade andcraft butchering sectors, the Sector was invited tobe part of initial discussions on new statutory ap-prenticeships.

OrganisingThe Sector engaged in several initiatives to organ-ise and increase density. Pallas Food in Limerickand Dublin, ROC Ireland and Ard Services, whichare employments that operate garages country-wide, Grafton Group, Dunnes Stores, Tesco Irelandand Musgraves were just some of the employ-ments where the Sector engaged in initiatives. TheSector also conducted an organising campaign inthe national pharmacy chain All Care which re-sulted in the negotiation of a collective agreementcovering pay, terms and conditions, and negotia-tion rights for SIPTU.

Sector Membership The number of members leaving union member-ship continued to exceed the number of workersjoining the Sector in the period under review.1,069 workers joined and 1,985 left in 2015. In 20161,210 joined and 1,652 left. Sector financial mem-


bership at year end 2016 was 8,545.

Membership decline is primarily attributable tothe very large number of redundancies enduredby workers in the Sector.

Pensions While defined benefit pension schemes are rare inthe Division as a whole, there are some activeschemes. During the period under review the Di-vision experienced a trend where employers wereseeking to wind up or radically alter theseschemes. Most employers could not afford to fundtheir schemes or would have difficulty with the riskreserve required. The strategy has been to en-deavour to maintain Defined Benefit pensionschemes and, if that is not possible, to negotiatethe best transfer value to a Defined Contributionscheme with an enhanced contribution from theemployer. The Automobile Association closed itsscheme to new entrants. Other employers such asTedcastle Aviation and MSL/MDL, (motor industry)wound up their schemes. Bord na gCon, BOCGases, Tesco, and Marks and Spencer were someof the other employments where negotiations onDefined Benefit schemes were conducted.

Justice for Clerys Workers Campaign In June 2015 the Division saw one of the most highprofile closures in Irish industrial relations historywith the sudden closure of Clerys DepartmentStore in Dublin. On the morning of 12th June, theowners of Clerys, Gordon Brothers, sold the Com-pany to a venture capitalist group, Natrium, whichis made up of D2 Private and Cheyne Capital. Na-trium proceeded to make an application for insol-vency for the operations part of the business at4:00pm that afternoon. Our members were calledto a meeting on the shop floor at 5.30pm and in-formed by KPMG that the store would cease trad-ing with immediate effect and that they were allredundant and had 30 minutes to leave the store.Private security personnel escorted the workersout of the building and changed the locks. About130 directly employed Clerys members lost theirjobs as well as almost 300 working for concession-ers, including 24 SIPTU members working forJacques Vert Group.

The morning after the store closed, the Justice forClerys Workers campaign was launched by SIPTUat a general meeting of Clerys workers in LibertyHall. What ensued was a high profile comprehen-sive campaign to achieve justice for the workers

which was led by the Clerys Shop Stewards andinvolved a large number of committed trade unionmembers. For our members, many of whom hadworked in the store for 30 or 40 years, the storeclosure was a devastating blow, but worse was tocome as the details of the transactions that led tothe closure became known.

The initial priority was to expedite payment of anymonies owed to our members. We were success-ful in expediting social welfare payments as wehad the DSP meet with all of our members in Lib-erty Hall. We also ensured that members met withthe provisional liquidator, KPMG, in Liberty Hall toprocess the information for the Insolvency Fundand Social Insurance Fund. The Workers Rights’Centre won a landmark judgement in respect ofminimum notice for the Clerys workers.

The campaign then moved on to lobby the Gov-ernment to address shortfalls in company and em-ployment legislation in order to protect workersin an insolvency situation and prevent a repeat ofwhat has happened in Clerys. Our members wereaware that any change in legislation would haveno beneficial impact on their situation, but theywere committed to ensuring that no other workerswould suffer a fate such as theirs.

The campaign also sought to highlight the lack ofrespect shown to these workers by both Natriumand Gordon Brothers, and there was a demand forNatrium to at least meet the workers. We weresuccessful in lobbying Dublin City Council to agreeto an emergency council motion calling on Na-trium to meet with the workers and to reinstate aPlanning Scheme for O’Connell Street which wasabout to expire in the weeks after Natrium hadbought the building. The Scheme afforded certainprotections to named buildings on O’ConnellStreet, including Clerys, which are of cultural, his-torical or architectural significance.

The Clerys workers won a huge amount of supportfrom fellow trade unionists and members of thepublic. On the 16th October 2015 Christy Mooreperformed at a packed benefit concert in LibertyHall organised by the Communicatins department.There were daily protests at the store for the firstmonth after the closure, then weekly protests out-side A&L Goodbody on the North Quays every Fri-day lunchtime for several weeks, as that waswhere Natrium’s offices were based. The proteststhen moved to the Department of Jobs, Enterprise


and Innovation every Tuesday for eleven weekswhich eventually led to a Government announce-ment in January 2016 of a review of employmentand company law.

A petition in support of the campaign received29,000 signatures, over 10,000 of them onlineand the campaign facebook page quickly becamea go-to for campaign supporters. The campaignreceived a huge amount of publicity and media in-terest and in January 2016 RTE aired an hour-longdocumentary which was watched by nearly half amillion people. The workers led the Dublin MayDay march in 2016. On the night of 11 June 2016,exactly one year since Natrium had workedthrough the night to close the store, the campaignprojected an enormous ‘Time for Justice’ image on

to the facade of the building. In July Natriumlodged an application for planning permission toredevelop Clerys as a hotel, offices, bars andshops with Dublin City Council. The followingmonth an architectural conservation company an-nounced that they would not work on the buildingunless Natrium met with the Clerys workers. De-spite receiving 67 objections from former workers,councillors, neighbouring businesses, An Taisce,SIPTU and other trade unions, Dublin City Councilgranted planning permission to the developers inDecember 2016.


Transport, Energy, Aviation

and Construction Division

In December 2015 a request was submitted to theNational Executive Council to change the name ofthe Division from the Utilities and Construction Di-vision to the Transport, Energy, Aviation and Con-struction (TEAC) Division, and this was approvedby the NEC.

MEMBERSHIP and ORGANISATIONThe Financial Membership of the Division for 2015and 2016 was as follows:

2015 2016 Difference

Aviation Sector 4,864 5,013 + 149

Construction Sector 6,642 7,885 + 1243

Energy Sector 2,560 2,542 - 18

Transport Sector 5,723 5,723 0

19,789 21,163 +1,374

AcknowledgementsThe Transport, Energy, Aviation and ConstructionDivisional Committee is fully cognisant of the im-portance placed upon a cohesive union acting inunison on behalf of all its members. Not only be-tween activists and full-time staff at Divisional andNational level, but also between this union’s front-line negotiating staff, the staff of the union’s manyspecialist services and the supporting administra-tive staff. Their ongoing, committed and profes-sional contribution to the TEAC Division is greatlyappreciated by the Divisional Committee, the fourTEAC Sector Committees and its wider member-ship. The application and selfless dedication of ourvolunteer Shop Stewards, Health and Safety Rep-resentatives and Committee members throughoutthe TEAC Division is of paramount importance andcannot be overstated.

DIVISIONAL COMMITTEEThe following were elected to serve on the firstTransport, Energy, Aviation and Construction(TEAC) Divisional Committee. They remained in of-fice until the TEAC Biennial Delegate Conferencein November 2016, wherein their six-year termcame to an end as per rule:

Tommy Wynne (Transport Sector) was the electedDivisional President, and Philip Casey (Energy Sec-tor) was the Divisional Vice-President. The Com-

mittee held four meetings in 2015 and five meet-ings in 2016.

Sector NameAviation Willie Hynes

Mary McCabe**Rose Ann Donnelly co-opted April 2015 to replace Mary McCabe Bredeen SharkeyConor Swords**Joseph O’Sullivan co-opted April2015 to replace Conor Swords

Construction Noel CoughlanEddie GunneryMichael LambeDick McGlewDaniel O’ConnellGreg Walsh

Energy Philip CaseyMarcus MacMahonTony Merriman

Transport Kevin Brown **Joseph Carrick co-opted May 2015 to replace Kevin BrownStephen HannanPat HartnettAnn RyanTommy Wynne

Retired Member Tom Donnelly

The current Divisional Committee took office fol-lowing the Divisional Conference held in Novem-ber 2016. Tommy Wynne (Transport Sector) waselected as Divisional President, and Noel Coughlan(Construction Sector) was elected as DivisionalVice-President.

Sector NameAviation Willie Hynes

Rose Ann DonnellyAileen O’DonovanTony O’Connell

Construction Noel CoughlanEddie Gunnery


Michael LambeChris BradyGreg Walsh

Energy James SmithMarcus MacMahonTony Merriman

Transport Tommy WynneStephen HannanPeter O’TooleDavid Keating

Retired Member John Walsh

Divisional Standing Orders CommitteeAviation: Rose Ann DonnellyAviation: Aileen O’Donovan *Construction: *Noel Coughlan co-opted

October 2016 to replace Aileen O’Donovan

Construction: David TraynorEnergy: Teresa ThorpeTransport: Stephen Hannan

NATIONALNational Executive CouncilJack Dempsey (RIP), Ann Ryan, Anthony Blake.

National Executive Council Elected November 2016Jack Dempsey (RIP), Ann Ryan, Kevin McCarthy.

National Trustee Elected November 2016Eugene Murphy

Rules Revision CommitteeKevin McCarthy, Noel Coughlan, Pearse Cullinan

Equality CommitteeAmanda Kavanagh, Rose Ann Donnelly

National Standing Orders CommitteeDavid Traynor, Stephen Hannan, Dick McGlew

DIVISIONAL STAFF

Divisional Office Divisional Organiser: Owen Reidy**Greg Ennis replaced Owen Reidy 21st November 2016Administrative Assistant:Susan Dwan**Susan Dwan retired 31st December 2016

Aviation SectorSector Organiser: Greg Ennis**Neil McGowan replaced Greg Ennis December2016

Industrial Organisers: Karl Byrne**Karl Byrne appointed as Education Sector Organiser and replaced by Ciaran Garrett October 2016.Tony Carroll, Neil McGowan.Administrative Assistant: Anne Lindsay

Construction Sector Sector Organiser: Martin MeereIndustrial Organisers: James Coughlan, DavidLane*, Stephen Lewis, Mary McElligott, Pat McGrath, Henry O’Shea, Jim Sheridan*David Lane periodically operated within SIPTUWRC.Administrative Assistant: Rhona Alford

Energy SectorSector Organiser: Adrian KaneIndustrial Organiser: John Regan, Oliver McDonagh**Oliver McDonagh transferred June 2015 to theSIPTU WRCAdministrative Assistant: Rosemary Gillespie

Transport SectorSector Organiser: Willie NooneIndustrial Organisers: Jerry Brennan, Paul Cullen,John MurphyAdministrative Assistants: Rosemary Fennell, Lorraine Murphy, Miriam Smith, Annette Quigney**Annette Quigney transferred June 2015 to LegalRights Unit

SECTOR COMMITTEE Members 2015 – 2016

Aviation Sector CommitteeOwen DevineDorothy Prendergast (Vice PresidentRichard DignamBarry NevinRose Ann DonnellyKevin McCarthy (President)Dominic HarrisAileen O’DonovanWillie HynesTony O’ConnellKevin McCarthy (President)Joseph O’SullivanTony O’ConnellAndrew Edwards


Aileen O’DonovanCormac O’DonoghueJoseph O’SullivanJohn O’ByrneKathleen O’TooleRose Ann DonnellyDorothy Prendergast (Vice President)Caoimhe McLoughlin McIvorCatherine Prior Willie Hynes

Construction Sector CommitteeAnthony BlakeGreg WalshChristopher BradyEddie Gunnery (President)Noel CoughlanDavid TraynorBrendan DelaneyPatrick PeoplesJack Dempsey (RIP)Daniel O’ConnellEddie Gunnery (President)Richard MullaneNiall KehoeBilly Memery (Vice President)Michael LambeMichael LambeBilly Memery (Vice President)Niall KehoeRichard MullaneJack Dempsey (RIP)Daniel O’ConnellBrendan DelaneyPatrick PeoplesNoel CoughlanDavid TraynorChristopher BradyGreg WalshAnthony Blake

Energy Sector Committee 20152016Philip CaseyPhilip CaseyTom CuddyTom CuddyOwen KilmurrayOwen KilmurrayMarcus MacMahonFinbarr O’ConnellYvonne McGrath

James SmithEugene Murphy (President)Patrick SheridanTeresa Thorpe (Vice President)Teresa ThorpeFinbarr O’ConnellYvonne McGrath (Vice President)Patrick SheridanMarcus McMahonJames SmithEugene Murphy (President)

Transport Sector Committee 20152016Gary BlakeGary BlakeJoseph CarrickDavid KeatingPearse CullinanWilliam McCamleyStephen Hannan (Vice President)Stephen Hannan (Vice President)David KeatingJoseph CarrickMary LonerganPeter O’TooleBernard LoughranMary LonerganWilliam McCamleyStephen MillanePeter O’TooleBrian WalshBrian WalshMichael GleesonTyrone WintersTommy Wynne (President)Tommy Wynne (President)Jimmy KavanaghDave Shearer

ObituariesThe Transport, Energy, Aviation and ConstructionDivisional Committee wishes to extend its deepestsympathies to the family and friends of deceasedactivists and members in the Division, and to allunion members who suffered bereavements during 2015 and 2016.

Training and DevelopmentAs part of our commitment to the ongoing devel-opment and education of our workplace represen-tatives, SIPTU College provided training courses


throughout the Division for the period in questionas follows:

2015Overall Attendance: 95Sector Advanced Basic Computer Employment Equality Health-

NewTotal

LawSafetyDevelopments

Aviation 5 12 2 6 1 26

Construction 1 6 7

Energy 1 8 10 1 1 1 22

Transport 2 16 8 5 4 540

Advanced Shop Steward CourseAttended by the Aviation, Construction, Energyand Transport Sectors was held: 25-27 February 2015 Dublin

Basic Shop Steward Courses Attended by the Aviation, Construction, Energyand Transport Sectors were held: 11-13 March 2015 Dublin 8-10 April 2015 Dublin 20-22 May 2015 Limerick4-6 June 2015 Dublin 23-25 June 2015 Galway23-25 September 2015 Dublin

Computer Courses Attended by the Energy Sector (Lisheen Mines)were held: 15 January 2015 Dublin27 January 2015 Dublin 3 March 2015 Dublin

Employment Law Training (Parts 1 and 2) Attended by the Aviation and Transport Sectorswere held: 25-27 March 2015 Dublin 22-24 April 2015 Dublin

Equality TrainingAttended by the Energy and Transport Sectorswas held:9-13 February 2015 Dublin

Health and Safety Training Attended by the Aviation, Energy and TransportSectors were held: 2-6 March 2015 Dublin 30 November – 4 December 2015 Dublin

New DevelopmentsAttended by the Aviation, Energy and Transport

Sectors was held:27-29 May 2015 Dublin

2016Overall Attendance: 67

Advanced Shop Steward CourseAttended by the Aviation and Energy Sectors washeld: 13-15 April 2016 Dublin

Basic Shop Steward Courses Attended by the Aviation, Construction, Energyand Transport Sectors were held:17-19 February 2016 Dublin, 22-24 March 2016Dublin, 27-29 April 2016 Cork, 6-8 September 2016Dublin, 9-11 November 2016 Galway, November29th- December 1st 2016 Shannon, 12-14 Decem-ber Dublin

EWC Course Attended by the Energy Sector was held: 11-13 April 2016 Dublin

Health and Safety Training Attended by Aviation and Transport (Port and Docks) Sectors was held: 22-26 February 2016 Dublin

Pension CIE CourseAttended by the Transport Sector was held:19-20 January 2016 Dublin

AVIATION SECTOR REPORT

OverviewThe Aviation Sector in 2015 and 2016 saw a continuation in worldwide growth and Ireland wasno different. In fact, levels of growth and recordpassenger numbers have been recorded year onyear with the record 2015 year at Dublin Airportbeing surpassed by 2016 figures, which sawrecord passenger numbers of 26 million use theDublin facility and with 100,000 passengers pass-ing through the Airport on 4 days that year. In


Nurses from 12 countries stood on thepicket lines with Dublin Bus workers atSummerhill Garage, September 2016.


2016 Dublin became the fastest growing airport inEurope. This very welcome growth phase withinthe Sector created the opportunity for our mem-bers to claim back, and indeed improve uponterms and conditions of employment and to alsogrow its membership base within the Sector.

Irish Airline Superannuation Scheme (IASS) - Aer Lingus, Dublin Airport Authority and ShannonAirport AuthorityFollowing on from the freezing and de-risking ofthe IASS, January 1st 2015 saw the commence-ment of separate DC Pension Schemes in theseemployments. Final settlement on all outstandingDAA/SAA related issues did not arrive until April2015, wherein agreements were reached by allDAA/SAA Sections. In the DAA/SAA a ‘Final Deter-mination’ on somewhat amended and enhancedproposals was accepted by our members on April9th 2015. These proposals contained improvedchanges such as date determined increased upliftsto an individual’s DC Pension Pot and additionalemployer contributions with a strong emphasis onlower paid staff.

DAA Cost Recovery Programme (CRP) - This programme which was implemented in February2010, had seen ongoing annual basic pay reduc-tions on a temporary basis right across the DAA(4.25% - 9%), cuts to overtime payments, loss ofbonus payments, restructuring and voluntary redundancies. As provided for within the CRP, weserved a claim for a basic pay increase and a profitsharing scheme, which ultimately resulted in aLabour Court Recommendation (LCR20997) beingissued in May 2015. This Recommendationawarded a retrospective 4% basic pay increase(2% July 1st 2014 and 2% July 1st 2015), and restated our entitlement to a Profit Share Scheme.The Labour Court also recommended that a ‘NewModel Agreement’ be negotiated to replace theCRP Agreement. Following acceptance of the saidLabour Court Recommendation, ultimately by allsections, talks on a new Model Agreement to re-place the CRP commenced in late 2015. These ne-gotiations initially broke up in March 2016following the DAA’s decision to pay a dividend tothe State, while simultaneously retaining our mem-bers temporary pay cuts. Following over threemonths of stalemate and six years of withholdingsame, the DAA finally restored our member’s tem-

porary cuts of between 4.25% and 9% of basic paywith effect from 1st July 2016 with retrospectionto 1st January 2016, without recourse to targetsbeing hit relating to same. The talks on the poten-tial for a successor Collective Agreement contin-ued until the end of 2016.

Airport Police and Fire Service - The Labour Courtissued a favourable recommendation (LCR21149)on the disputed provision of 12 month contractswithin the APFS. A second favourable recommen-dation (LCR21237) was issued on the 18th May2016 in relation to an alleged breach by the DAAof the 2003 Collective Agreement. The union ar-gued that all APFS employees are entitled to termsand conditions set down in the 2003 Agreement.The Court found that the disputed terms of the2003 Agreement should apply.

A third Labour Court recommendation (LCR21311)was issued on 6th October 2016 in relation to cer-tification payments for Irish Aviation Authority in-duced targeted patrols. The APFS, after an initialrejection of an earlier collective DAA Labour Courtrecommendation (LCR20997), re-balloted and ac-cepted the 4% pay increases associated with samein exchange for future engagement with the com-pany through the assistance of an agreed facilita-tor. This process had yet to commence at yearend.

Elsewhere within the wider DAA, restructuringtalks took place in the Dublin Airport Control Cen-tre involving five separate sections and are ex-pected to conclude in early 2017. A WRCbrokered agreement resulted in the survival andrestructuring of the VIP Area. Favourable WRCproposals and Labour Court Recommendationswere obtained for Frisking Supervisors, OutdoorCleaning, Airfield Maintenance and Trolley Driversin 2015 and 2016.

Airport Services Consolidated Ltd - T2 A significant number of successful appeals intoquestionable Appraisal Awards given to our mem-bers as part of the pay progression system incor-porated into the T2 collective agreement weresecured. Shannon Airport Authority (SAA)A favourable determination from the Labour Courtresulted in members being classified correctly asexisting employees and not ‘new entrants.’ Thisensured positive pay award differentials for the


members concerned. The Shannon Hotel Collegeof Management was transferred to NUIG underTUPE legislation. The CRP reductions in pay similarto DAA were restored in December of 2016 andback dated to 1st January 2016.

Aer Lingus (Dublin, Cork and Shannon)Further to the well documented and significant€1.36bn takeover of Aer Lingus by IAG in Septem-ber 2015, there were many other developments atshop floor level in what was an extremely chal-lenging two years on the industrial relations frontwithin this company. Our members voted heavilyin favour of the establishment of an Internal Dis-putes Resolution Board (IDRB) which will deal withcollective and individual cases in a timely manner.Commencement of the process for registeringfour existing collective agreements, that is, Alter-native to Aer Lingus Proposal, Greenfield, IDRB andPensions Agreement took place in 2016. Thisprocess has taken an undue amount of time.

The Gateway collaboration agreement which con-cluded in March 2016 offered some alleviationfrom roster difficulties, but the currentwinter/spring period saw the bad rostering prac-tices re-emerge and there is currently a processunder way to bring about alleviation to thesemeasures. The loading section is continuing topursue a claim in relation to the Blueprint Pay-ments that are currently off scale and non-pension-able.

In the Head Office/Support Sections the companycontinues to restructure in line with Section 4 ofthe Greenfield Agreement. In 2016, we have seenIT and the Cash Office being restructured/out-sourced and our members in the section havebeen, or are in the process of being redeployed.

In Maintenance and Engineering a long runningdispute was settled in relation to Licence and Ap-proval Pay for Aircraft as were other disputes inCatering and Cargo. In Shannon, Aer Lingus Cargocompleted a review to integrate with IAG Cargoand this resulted in the addition of IAG Cargo tothe Aer Lingus operation.

Swissport (Dublin, Cork and Shannon)Members in Dublin, Cork and Shannon overwhelm-ingly voted for a WRC brokered pay proposal,which included annual pay increases up to 2017,lump-sum payments and a commitment from thecompany to explore the application of a SectoralEmployment Order in the Aviation 3rd party Han-dling Sector. The company agreed to increase the

hours for a group of members to full time, withagreement for an annual review. The issue of shiftrate will be dealt with as part of upcoming pay ne-gotiations.

Kerry AirportOur members voted to accept an increase of 3%from 1st June 2016 for 12 months.

OCSThe HBS section voted to accept a WRC proposalthat allowed for a 4% increase in pay effectivefrom 1st January 2016 and a 3% increase in pay ef-fective from 1 January 2017.The Aircraft Cleaningsection voted to accept locally negotiated pro-posals that allowed for an increase from 8.4% to15.78%, depending on the role carried out.

Atlantic Aviation GroupWe successfully secured the reinstatement of theannual increment that had been withdrawn as partof the company examinership process that re-sulted in a takeover in 2015.

Air France/KLMA pay deal in Air France/KLM for a 2.5% increasein pay for the period December 2015 to December2017 was secured.

Gate GourmetThe outstanding pay claim for 2015 and 2016 of3% p.a. has been referred to the Labour Court. Theclaim also entailed the cessation of the use ofagency workers and the transfer of Gate Aviationcontract holders to more favourable Gate Gour-met contracts of employment.

OCSA WRC proposal was balloted upon and acceptedby members wherein the company agreed to a 3%basic pay increase backdated to 1st September2013 with a further 1.5% to be paid in July 2016,back dated to July 2015. As per the Transfer of Un-dertakings Regulations a TUPE took place in Janu-ary 2015, with members maintaining theirlongstanding terms and condition of employmentupon Transfer.

LTSL (Shannon Aerospace)Pension restructuring negotiations took place re-sulting in the closure of the DB Scheme and thecreation of a DC Scheme. As part of the agree-ment, a €12m contribution from the company tofacilitate the closure of the existing DB schemewas secured.


Hamilton SunstrandThe union lodged a 6% claim for 2015 and 2016.Proposals were ultimately accepted for a 2.3% in-crease for 2016 a 2.5% increase due in 2017 with aproductivity goal of 4% in 2016.

ICTSA 2.25% increase in basic pay from 31st March2016 was accepted by our members in Dublin andShannon.

LTTSNegotiations resulted in a transfer of membersfrom the DB hybrid Pension Scheme to a new DCScheme. This involved a €4m contribution fromthe company and gave members a reasonablepension expectation upon retirement. A pay pro-posal of 1% was agreed for April to December2016, with 2% to accrue for 2017.

TransaeroFollowing the company entering examinership,proposals were subsequently accepted by mem-bers on March 23rd 2015, which assisted in secur-ing our members’ jobs at the plant movingforward.

SR Technic (Cork)A basic pay increase of 4% for a two-year periodand an improvement to the ‘Bonus Scheme’ weresecured for members following Labour Court in-tervention. A Respect and Dignity policy was alsoagreed.

Ireland West Airport Knock (IWAK)A long running dispute relating to our members’claim for compensation due to the loss of ‘regularand rostered’ overtime was successfully resolved,following Workplace Relations Commission inter-vention.

CONSTRUCTION SECTOR REPORT

Overview The years 2015/2016 at first witnessed a slow-down in the decline of construction activity, how-ever as we moved through the period in question,larger projects and some increase in house build-ing became a positive reality within the Sector.While the end of the Registered EmploymentAgreement (REA) continued to hamper organisa-tion, it is hoped that ongoing engagementsthrough the CIC can bring about a new REA. The

Construction Workers’ Pension Scheme (CWPS),Construction Workers’ Health Trust and the Con-struction Workers’ Benevolent Fund, all showeddecreases in membership, but this is expected tochange as the industry returns to growth. unionscontinued to lobby the Government for new leg-islation, and prior to the summer recess of 2015,the Dáil enacted the Industrial Relations Amend-ment Act 2015.

Following the enactment of this new legislation,the CIC convened several meetings of the Groupof unions to develop a strategy to restore lostground as a result of the Supreme Court Judge-ment striking down the REA in May 2013. In De-cember 2015, the CIC presented its claim for fullrestoration of pay rates prior to the 7.5% pay cutas a result of a previous Labour Court Recommen-dation; a cost of living increase of 2.5% per yearfor three years was also served. At year end talkswere continuing with the CIF on the potential fora new REA and a Sectoral Employment Order(SEO) to deal with Pay, Pensions and Sick Pay. Itwas expected that an application would be madeto the Labour Court in early 2017.

Union Organising Despite the ongoing challenges within the con-struction industry, the Construction Sector, withthe assistance of the Organising Department, hasbeen involved in active recruitment and organis-ing, especially in the east and the south of thecountry. During this period, the membership rosesignificantly. In 2015 the Construction Sector sawthe largest number of joiners in any Sector of theunion at 3,111, or 15% of all new joiners. Likewise,in 2016, the Sector recorded 6,344 joiners equat-ing to 25% of all new joiners in SIPTU that year.

Health and Safety Regrettably deaths continue to occur on Irish Con-struction sites, while the numbers for 2015 and2016 are heading in a downward trajectory, onedeath is simply one to many. The most worryingstatistic is that most of these deaths are happen-ing on small one-off sites and of the nine deaths in2016, three were of self-employed workers. Theage profile ranges from 20 to 63 with all but oneover the age of 30. Over the last two years someoverzealous employers have used Health andSafety issues as a means of disciplining our mem-bers.

Construction Agencies


Agencies as a group have continued to influenceworking patterns within the Construction industry.Our members employed by these Agencies con-tinue in many cases to experience an extremelydifficult time and, in some cases, they are clearlyhaving their terms and conditions eroded by un-scrupulous employers. We continue to supportsuch members in every way possible.

Roadstone 2015 saw the unions lodge a 5% pay claim on thecompany. This matter was referred to the WRC.Subsequent proposals to restore the previouslywithdrawn ‘Bonus Payments’ and basic pay in-creases of 6% for a three-year period were ac-cepted by members in 2016.

BBCLGFollowing a Labour Court hearing an IndependentAssessor was engaged to carry out a review of payrates and a formula for harmonisation was put for-ward. In December 2016, the company renegedon a previous WRC agreement regarding Emer-gency Standby over the Christmas period. This re-sulted in further discussion and the companyhaving to improve on the previous agreement. Afurther Labour Court hearing is scheduled for 2017.

John Sisk and Son LtdIn 2015 the Company threatened to take the ex-gratia redundancy package off the table unlessSIPTU agreed to eight compulsory redundanciesfrom our 18 members. The union objected in thestrongest possible terms. Disputes involving mem-bers in Waterford and a successful protest againstbogus self-employment in Dublin also took placein 2016.

Irish Cement The company previously advised the Group ofunions that it would be closing the existing De-fined Benefit Pension Scheme and would intro-duce a new scheme for new entrants goingforward. Notwithstanding this initial approach thecompany ultimately guaranteed that it would con-tinue to pay its annual contribution into the DBScheme, which had been agreed in 2012 and italso agreed to open the DB Scheme to new en-trants. A 5% pay claim was lodged on behalf of ourmembers, which was subsequently referred to theWRC.

Loughnane Concrete Ltd.We have agreed a 3% basic pay increase as wellas restoring the overtime rate to 1.25% from 1stAugust 2016.

Road Maintenance ServicesWe have agreed Pay Rises with this company of7% over three phases as follows:3% from 1st January 2016, 2% from 1st January2017 and 2% from 1st January 2018

O’Reilly Concrete Ltd.Pay Proposals were secured in June 2016 as follows;Increase in basic pay of 1.5% effective from 1 January 2016.Increase in OT Rate to 1.4x (from 1.15x currently)effective from 1 June 2016 and further increasedto 1.5x with effect from 1 June 2017.

Cold ChonPay Proposals were secured in June 2016 as fol-lows; 3% from 1st January 2016, 2% from 1st Janu-ary 2017 and 2% from 1st January 2018.

Kellymount Quarry Ltd.Our members accepted a Labour Court recom-mendation on harmonisation to bring them in linewith two other quarries that make up the KilkennyLimestone Limited Group.

The recommendation saw them achieve a 6.5% in-crease on the basic hourly rate, and an increase onthe Shift Rate from 19% up to 22%. It also recom-mended that any future general pay increasesshould apply equally to all staff in all quarries.

RILTAThis company is involved in specialised hazardouswaste removal and recycling. Members secured a2.8% pay increase in January 2016.

Shanganagh Waste WaterA pay increase of 5% was secured following WRCintervention, resulting in 2.5% from 1st June 2015and another 2.5% from 1st June 2016.

Pay IncreasesPay increases were secured from several addi-tional construction companies on behalf of ourmembers during 2015/2016.


Resource RecoveryGreenstar - Issues relating to personal safety onbehalf of members employed in the Waterford siteare being addressed as some employees havebeen threatened by individuals at their homes.This follows these individuals coming on site. TheCork site was taken over by Panda Waste and theunion is progressing multiple issues through pro-cedures.

Greyhound Recycling - We retain a number ofmembers working directly with the companyunder the terms of a Dublin County Council con-tract.

Panda Recycling - The long-term objective is toseek the restoration of a pay cut taken by staff in2014. Currently we are attempting to organisearound an issue of concern, regarding serioushealth and safety issues.

ENERGY AND NATURAL RESOURCES SECTOR REPORT

OverviewIn 2015 and 2016 we have seen some positivemovements in pay in companies such as Bord Gais,ESB, and Coillte, while discussions are progressingwithin Ervia. It has been a particularly difficult timefor our members in Bord na Mona, where signifi-cant industrial issues arise frequently in what hasbecome an extremely volatile employment due tothe actions of the company. There is potential formultiple disputes in the near future.

In June 2015, the then Minister for Communica-tions, Energy and Natural Resources, Alex White,held a “citizen and public stakeholder informationsession” in Dublin Castle prior to the publicationof the White Paper on Energy, published later inthe year. The content of the White Paper and rec-ommendations were largely determined by the2030 Climate and Energy Framework adopted bythe EU in October 2014. This set out three princi-ple targets to be achieved by 2030:

At least a 40% cut in greenhouse gas emissionsAt least a 27% share for renewable energyAt least a 27% improvement in energy efficiencyIf these very ambitious targets are to be achievedthey will have a profound effect on members whowork in the carbon producing energy industry.

OrganisingThe Sector has lost membership in the last yeardue to the closure of Lisheen Mine. We hope thatthe plan for creating an Energy Hub on the site ofLisheen Mine becomes a reality. The focus of theSector in 2015/16 has been on organising in IrishWater, and we have done so with some success.The other principle target has been Bord Gais,where we have a number of key activists whohave taken up representative roles. We expect fu-ture progress in this regard. The Sector also com-missioned the Research Department to investigatethe wider energy and natural resources sector.The research provides us with the basic informa-tion in relation to who the principle private sectorenergy providers are in Ireland, the numbers theyemploy and their attitudes towards trade unions.We need to ensure that our union continues to re-build across the sector following the recent reces-sion.

Bord GaisThe pay freeze terminated at the end of 2015. TheGroup of unions sought an increase in line withsectoral pay norms. The company has in place thesame pay model which exists in Gas Networks Ire-land and Irish Water. The proposal of a 3% increaseup to April 2017 was endorsed by the member-ship. This does not provide for a universal paymentas the percentage increase will be determinedwith reference to an employee’s position on theirpay band and performance. The quantum of thepay award, however, is significant.

AESAES has grown market share by acquiring othersmaller refuse companies over the last number ofyears. As a result of this acquisition policy, therates of pay in the company tended to varywidely. Following extensive negotiations with thecompany over the last two years, and with the as-sistance of the WRC, which also included a fullLabour Court hearing, the Court recommendedthe harmonisation of pay within four rates of pay.These new rates represent a €2 to €3 increase onthe hourly rate. In addition to the recommendationin relation to pay the Labour Court also recom-mended the introduction of a sick and pensionscheme with a voluntary increase in the retirementage.

Bord Na MonaAfter a long running dispute lasting over 18months, a three-year agreement was reached at


the Labour Court. The Labour Court Recommen-dation (LCR21071) was subsequently endorsedthrough a company-wide ballot. The dispute cen-tred on the company seeking €24.2 million in costreductions across the company. The removal ofthe public service obligation in respect of Eden-derry Power and the planned removal of the PSOin respect of Loughree Power and Shannonbridgeplanned in 2019 was the stated impetus for thelevel of cost savings being sought. The companyalso sought to reduce the workforce by over onehundred and enforce savage pay-cuts, in somecases up to €15,000 per annum. The Labour CourtRecommendation protected existing pay ratesand provided for no compulsory redundancies.Agreement was reached on voluntary redundancyterms, an extension of the retirement age, rede-ployment options, training and up skilling, lumpsum payments, and a 3% increase in basic pay,provided certain cost saving targets werereached. Other pay related disputes related toRoad Haulage, Rail Haulage, Rail Laying and Lifting,and Edenderry Power, where a pay claim was be-fore the Labour Court at year’s end.

New Boliden - Tara MinesA three-year Sustainability Agreement was nego-tiated. It provides for 4.5% basic pay increases of2% in 2015, 2% in 2016 and 0.5% in 2017. In addi-tion, members were to receive €6,000 in lumpsum payments provided targets were reachedover the three-year period. The members of thedefined benefit pension scheme have voted tochange to a defined contribution scheme. Theprinciple provisions of the agreement include re-moving the 10% cut to benefits that were imposedon the members due to a significant deficit in theDB Scheme. In addition, the agreement providesfor each member to receive a Transfer Value of107%. When the scheme is wound down the de-fined contribution scheme will come into effectwith contributions based on age as follows: < 40:6% employee, 10% employer, 41 – 45: 7% em-ployee, 11% employer, 46 – 50: 8% employee, 12%employer, 51 – 55: 9% employee, 13% employer, >55: 10% employee, 14% employer. Should theMine’s life extend past 2019, an additional contri-bution by Tara Mines of €500,000 in each year upto 2029 will apply.

CoillteThe WRC proposed pay terms of 2% per annumeffective from May 2015 up until April 2016 weresubsequently endorsed through a ballot of the

membership in September 2016. Negotiations willcommence in 2017 relating to a further pay claim.A new CEO was appointed in 2015 and one of thefirst actions he undertook was to stop the calibra-tion process that was in place in respect of theperformance pay system. There are likely to be re-dundancies in Head Office and the company is try-ing to radically increase its return on investment.Legislative measures have now been completedto allow for the establishment of a new definedcontribution scheme for new entrants.

ESBNegotiations concerning the Group of union’s payclaim of 3.5% pay increase per annum over a three-year period dating back to March 2014 finally con-cluded in May 2016, following talks facilitated byMs Janet Hughes. The facilitated talks commencedin the aftermath of the rejection of the IndustrialCouncil Recommendation 3101, which had beenissued in November 2015. The proposals, whichalso provide for a new pay model for new entrants,ensures the following;2% increase from April 20152.75% % increase from April 20162.75%% increase from April 2017 to October 2017A lump sum of €2,750 Agreement ends Sep 2018

ErviaGas Networks Ireland - Negotiations in relation toa pay increase had not concluded between theparties at the end of 2016. The pay freeze termi-nated at the end of 2015. These negotiationscover the entire group (Gas Networks Ireland andIrish Water). The company claimed that pensioncontributions needed to be increased by 2.8% inorder to ensure that the defined benefit pensionscheme could meet future liabilities. This claimwas supported by the Trustees of the scheme. TheGroup of unions has engaged independent advis-ers who verified that it was a reasonable request.The proposal by the company that the deficit befunded on a 50/50 basis was subsequently en-dorsed by the members of the Scheme.

Irish Water – This utility has seldom been out ofthe headlines since its creation in 2013. SIPTU rep-resents the majority of workers in the Public Utility.It has been difficult to deal with normal industrialissues because of the frenzied atmosphere createdby the media around anything to do with IrishWater. Pay proposals from the WRC in Septemberof 2015 provided for once off payments in lieu of


the performance related awards and were en-dorsed by the membership. It also emerged as wecontinued to organise in Irish Water that employ-ees were not receiving overtime payments in ac-cordance with their contracts of employment. Weinstructed all members to cease working overtimeuntil such time as the company guaranteed pay-ment. This action resulted in the company comply-ing with the terms of the overtime agreement andpaying retrospective monies that were outstand-ing to members.

In the post-election situation and throughout theremainder of 2016, there has again been muchspeculation about the future of the utility. SIPTU’scampaign for maintaining the provision of waterservices in public ownership goes back to 2000.Our position has been consistent since then. SIPTUwill continue to defend Irish Water workers whohave been doing excellent work in a very difficultsituation. In short it makes absolute sense to havea wholly owned public utility to deliver a coherentand integrated approach to the provision of waterservices.

Inland Fisheries IrelandThe National Committee successfully pursued along-standing claim concerning an inconsistentapplication of the guidelines concerning subsis-tence allowances to the Labour Court during 2015.The Labour Court Recommendation, (LCR 21106),provided for the harmonisation of IFI rates withthose that apply in the public service. The NationalCommittee established a sub-committee in orderto build a campaign to lobby for increased re-sources for IFI. The service has seen a third of itsworkforce slashed over the last six years. A recentstudy outlining the benefits of angling to the na-tional economy suggest additional spending in an-gling development would pay for itself throughadditional tourist revenue. A national campaignwhich lobbied for increased resources took placethroughout 2015, with activists targeting TDs inconstituencies where angling was of importance.A briefing booklet was also produced. The cam-paign ultimately proved successful and the Boardof IFI is now increasing the number of staff up tothe number provided for under the Employee Con-trol Framework agreement.

IFI members benefitted from the restorative meas-ure contained in the Haddington Road Agreementduring the year. Negotiations are also continuingin relation to the implementation of a new staff

scheme. The national committee ran a very suc-cessful campaign throughout 2016 to reverse thedecision to close the fish farms in Mullingar and Ro-screa.

Irving, Oil Refinery Whitegate Co CorkSIPTU has been involved in a long running cam-paign to ensure that Ireland continues to have fuelsecurity by maintaining the single oil refinery thatwe have on the island of Ireland. A motion, whichwas proposed by the Sector, calling for the reten-tion of the oil refinery, was endorsed by the SIPTUBiennial Conference in Cork. Support has alsocome from the ICTU and Cork Council of Tradeunions. The current owner, Phillips 66, has put thefacility at Whitegate, Co Cork, up for sale as agoing concern. Irving Oil, a family owned com-pany from Canada, has recently purchased the oilrefinery. Negotiations are continuing with the newowners in relation to pension provision and bonuspayments. In 2015 the Group of unions concludeda pay deal with the company through the auspicesof the then Labour Relations Commissions whichresulted in a pay proposal, which provided retro-spectively for 2% on November 1st 2014, 2% onJuly 1st 2015 and 2% on June 1st 2016.

Lisheen MineThis company closed its operations in January2016. Unfortunately, the mine was exhausted andthere was no other option but closure. Trainingand up-skilling courses were part of an outplace-ment package. Every worker was afforded the op-portunity to avail of this package six months priorto leaving the Mine. Each worker received a per-sonal training allowance in addition to a €500Ktraining programme agreed between SIPTU andthe company.

Priority DrillingThe union’s claim for a substantial increase in payhas resulted in a 6% pay increase to be applied intwo phases: September 2015 3% and September2016 3%.

ZenithAn initial two year pay deal will terminate at theend of 2016 and talks continue on a replacementdeal encompassing a cumulative pay increase overa longer-term period. It will also endeavour to ad-dress employer pension contributions issue.


TRANSPORT SECTOR REPORT

OverviewThe years 2015 and 2016 saw unprecedented in-dustrial relations developments right across theTransport Sector, which at times posed massivechallenges to our members and indeed the widertrade union movement. The strength, resolve anddiscipline of our Transport Sector members wasunbreakable and despite significant disputes re-quiring intermittent and sustained Industrial ac-tion, including strike action, such as those atTransdev (Luas) and Dublin Bus, our members pre-vailed. We continue to grow our membershipwithin the Sector, with the long held target of6,000 members clearly in our sights by year end2016. Future disputes may prove inevitable in par-ticular sections of the Sector in the year ahead.

Transdev (Luas)Collective agreement discussions took place atthe WRC throughout 2015, without any resolution.Subsequently, the parties attended a Labour Courthearing in September 2015 in respect of ourclaims. These claims contained significant in-creases in pay and other cost increasing aspectsfor all five unionised grades. The Court was not ina position to hear the submissions until a full finan-cial report was compiled. The parties reconvenedat the Labour Court in late November 2015 wherethe Mazars Financial Report was submitted. In2016 all unionised grades (Tram Drivers, Traffic Su-pervisors, Revenue Protections Supervisors andRevenue Protection Officers) rejected the subse-quent Labour Court Recommendation (LCR21097)in December 2015 and balloted in favour of indus-trial action in pursuance of their pay claim. On February 11th and 18th , 2016, two forty-eight hourwork stoppages took place. The parties were invited to discussions in the WRC on March 7thand a pending work stoppage for March 8th weredeferred.

Talks took place at the WRC and proposals to resolve the dispute for three grades (Tram Drivers,Revenue Protection Officers and Revenue Protec-tion Supervisors) were tabled on the 16th Marh. Noproposals were obtained for the Traffic Supervisorgrade at that time. As these proposals were rejected by all three grades, the 48 hour workstoppage commenced on the 27th March. Mem-bers in the grades subsequently balloted in favourof acceptance of improved proposals which included the following.

2% increase in pay from date of acceptance2% increase in pay on the 01/01/20172% increase in pay on the 01/01/20182% increase in pay on the 01/01/2019A long service increment payable after 3 years atthe maximum of the pay-scaleRevised reduction in new entrants’ ratesRevised productivity measuresRevised qualifying criteria for annual bonusesNo deductions for alleged part performancePotential for knock-on grade Increases

As no proposals were made in respect of the TramDriver grade their dispute continued and furtherwork stoppages occurred in April and May 2016.A subsequent Labour Court hearing took placeand the Court issued a recommendation(LCR21241) as follows;2% increase in pay from date of acceptance2% increase in pay on the 01/01/20172% increase in pay on the 01/01/20182% increase in pay on the 01/01/20192.5% increase in pay on the 01/01/20202% increase in pay on the 01/09/2020A lead in payment of €750 to be paid to membersbefore the end of 2016No increase in maximum duty spreadRevised, reduced new entrants’ rates Further discussions on operational issues on a non-cost basis A review of the company/union relationship bythe WRC Advisory ServicesReview and comparison of remuneration withcomparable European undertakings6.5% annual bonus to be re-instated in 2017These proposals were accepted by the TramDriver members in June 2016. The companyagreed to apply similar terms to all other SIPTUgrades that were in dispute in 2016.

Dublin Bus SIPTU’s pay claim encompassing all Grades for thefull repayment of the 6% pay increases due in2009, a negotiated pay increase going forwardover a three-year period, the linking of pay in-creases with pensions to continue, shift paymentsto be included in pensionable pay and improve-ments in the Drivers’ Income Continuance Schemewere discussed at the WRC in July 2015. Unfortu-nately, no progress was made and the claim onbehalf of the Driver Grade was referred to theLabour Court. The remaining grades attendedConciliation in December 2015 and, as with theDriver Grade, no progress was made. Their claim


was also referred to the Labour Court and a hear-ing took place in March 2016. The Court formedthe opinion that “no definitive recommendationthat it could make, at this time, would be of assis-tance to the parties” and the Court proposed thatthe parties reconvene at Conciliation. Littleprogress was made at the WRC and the parties re-turned to the Labour Court in June. The Court is-sued a recommendation (LCR21276) in July. On theissue of a flat pay increase the Court recom-mended the following for all grades:2.75% increase from 1st Jan 20162.75% increase from 1st Jan 20172.75% increase from 1st Jan 2018

SIPTU’s seven Dublin Bus grades separately bal-loted to reject (LCR21276) and industrial actioncommenced in Sept 2016 with three 48 hour workstoppages. SIPTU issued notice of further stop-pages but these were deferred due to an interven-tion by the WRC. The parties attended conciliationin late Sept 2016 and proposals were put forwardby the WRC as a basis for resolving the dispute.These proposals included:3.75% pay increase from 1st Jan 2016 (with full ret-rospection)3.75% pay increase from 1st Jan 20173.75% pay increase from 1st Jan 2018Deferment of proposed pay increases from pen-sionable pay till the end of Jan 2017Engagement on consolidation of current/futureshift pay for pension purposesunion commitment to cooperate with standardoperating practices Further talks on productivity and further pay en-hancementsThese proposals were accepted by all grades as asettlement to our pay claim.

Bus EireannBus Eireann had paid 38% of the premium payableby drivers towards their Income ContinuanceScheme since 1986, but the company was onlypaying just over 19% after the premium was in-creased in Jan 2015. The issue was before theLabour Court in May 2016 and the Court inLRC21224 recommended that the company mustre-instate the payments from the 1st Jan 2015. Thecompany restored its contribution rate, address-ing the affordability of the scheme but has notcompensated members who had paid excessivepremiums. This issue remains to be resolved.

Our members pay claim across all categories was

discussed at the WRC in March and May 2016. Thiswas subsequently adjourned until September2016. During this process the company indicatedthat it would deal with this union’s claim for a payincrease for School Bus Drivers separately and inparallel discussions. As little progress was madeon our claim for an increase in pay at the WRC inSeptember, the issue was referred to the LabourCourt and a hearing was eventually scheduled forDecember. In December 2016, the company at-tended the Labour Court but indicated that it wasnot in a position to proceed with the hearing as itwas in the process of formulating a plan. The com-pany indicated that it would avail of the Court incircumstances where it might require the Courtafter the outlining of a plan. The Court asked if theunions were willing to adjourn the case and all theunions indicated they were not willing to adjourn.Following a recess the Court informed all partiesthat it could not progress the case.

School Bus Drivers - Following a lengthy processto get School Bus Drivers (SBD) access to the CIEPension Scheme, all new eligible permanent SBDwould now automatically enter the Scheme fromJanuary 2015. Concerns remained about the is-suance of erroneous calculations to a number ofexisting SBD who considered joining the CIEWages Grade Pension Scheme and the fact thatsome drivers were not issued with figures at allwas wholly unacceptable. The amount of holidayentitlements being paid to SBD was also raisedthroughout 2016 as it appeared that the companywas leaving members short and not calculatingtheir entitlement as per the relevant legislation. Aslittle progress was made on these two issues theywere referred to the WRC. The SBD pay claim wasdealt with through conciliation in the WRC and adate was awaited at the end of 2016.

Bus Eireann/Dublin Bus - Registered Employ-ment Agreement.SIPTU balloted driver members in both companiesfor industrial action and strike action and receiveda mandate in favour of both of over 90%. Industrialaction took place in both companies on May 1stand 2nd 2015. Further action was planned on theMay 15th and 16th. The parties were invited backto the WRC and a “Terms of Settlement” proposalwas put forward. Members decided to defer fur-ther planned action. We were successful in achiev-ing commitments on most of our six-point agendaand the parties further engaged locally. The long-awaited enactment of the Industrial Relations


(Amendment) Act 2015 was of paramount impor-tance in securing statutory protection for ourmember’s conditions of employment in Bus Eire-ann and Dublin Bus arising from the tenderingprocess. This protection is of vital importance andits significance may only be truly realised in theyears to come.

CIE PensionsIn late 2015 and during 2016 the situation with theCIE pension saw the engagement of all the tradeunions on proposals to discuss the minimum fund-ing standard requirement. This presented a num-ber of challenges. Proposals tabled did not allowfor any pay increases to be reckonable for pensionpurposes until 2023. Initial company proposalsemerged, which proposed that the current DBschemes would be closed and replaced by a DCscheme. This drew strong resistance from SIPTUand resulted in the trade unions engaging theirown pensions expert to formulate a counter pro-posal based on the actuarial reports of bothschemes. Funding levels have now been increasedin both schemes. The wages grade scheme isclose to being fully funded and the 1951 superan-nuation scheme is close to 90% funded. Despiteproposals presented in December 2016 on thewages grade scheme no discussions have takenplace on the 1951 scheme as issues, including analleged conflict of interest, has resulted in strongresistance to any change in either scheme.

Irish Rail Following several meetings in early 2015 a ballotto increase the retirement age in CIE to 66 yearsconcluded on the 19th June 2015. A majority ofstaff across all three companies voted in favour.The option now will be offered to staff in CIE ifthey wish to remain on another year to their 66thbirthday. Another change is that the entry age toboth schemes will increase by one year respec-tively. This change required a statuary instrumentto be signed, which was sent to the Departmentof Transport.

Loco Driver members of SIPTU initiated (clause 4)of the Cost Containment Agreement on past pro-ductivity. This claim was presented on the basisthat drivers would see a reduction in their workingweek in line with their colleagues in the UK andNorthern Ireland. Loco Drivers have indicated thelevel of change in their grade over the last numberof years and have sought productivity paymentson foot of this increase. This involved several WRC

hearings between May and September 2015 whichresulted in industrial action occurring on the 23rdOctober 2015 and further date for action was pro-posed for the 6th November 2015. The LabourCourt intervened and subsequently issued(LCR21084) in November 2015. The Court recom-mended an independent facilitator be appointedto assess the issues such as past productivity,terms and conditions and the hours of work.

AircoachA pay claim was lodged against this company inJune 2015 and, following several meetings, pro-posals emerged in October 2015 which gave in ex-cess of 4% over a 19-month period. The proposalscontained an increase from 31st August 2015 untilMarch 2016 and a further increase from March 27th2016 until April 1st 2017 with a commitment thatpay discussions to review pay from that datewould occur. Other commitments on conditions ofemployment were secured. Pay Rises for customerservice staff, which brings them up from €9 anhour to €11 an hour immediately and backdatedto August 1st 2015, was accompanied by another2% increase in March 2016 until April 2017.

Translink/NIRThe years under review saw further restructuring,Voluntary Exit Schemes and further reductions infunding from the Stormont Executive. NIR has rea-sonably good capital assets, but from an opera-tions perspective it is constrained andinadequately funded for operating bus and railservices. The Executive needs to restore the fuelduty rebate of over £10m per annum which wasremoved two years ago. Almost 80 million passen-ger journeys are made on the NI public transportinfrastructure each year. A record annual 13 millionpassenger journeys were made by rail - over twicethe number since the current Great Victoria Streetstation was designed and built in 1995. A one yearpay claim was lodged in March 2016 to cover April2016 to April 2017. Due to a very tardy responsefrom the employer, the fractured nature of the or-ganisation, and the policy of conducting depart-ment by department negotiations, this matter wasnot resolved until December 2016. The agreementultimately secured delivered a 2% pay increase onbasic rate of pay effective from 1st April 2016, withthe Bereavement and Special Leave increased to4 days paid leave and 1 day unpaid leave.

Doyle Shipping GroupAn organising campaign was started in February2016 after contact was made by the existing mem-


bers in Doyle Shipping Group. A general meetingwas held with the employees at which many issueswere raised. SIPTU sought to engage with thecompany on collective issues but the companyclaimed that membership was only at 10% of thework force and would not engage. Ultimatelymembership density was increased to over 86%.We referred the collective issues to the WRC butthe company refused a second invitation to theWRC in May 2016. Nevertheless, although not hav-ing sat down with SIPTU the company issued 39hour contracts to all General Operatives, most ofwhom had been casual. Subsequently the Craneand machine operators who had 16 hour contractswere offered 39 hour contracts.

Dublin Port CompanyThe pay claim which was first raised in September2015 was the subject of a joint meeting between thevarious unions in Dublin Port. The Dublin Port Com-pany continued to leverage this against the “Pro-posed New Employee Handbook”. A joint meetingbetween the collective unions and the company washeld. At this meeting the company referred to the“New Employee Handbook” and stated that it wasnot willing to enter pay talks unless the “Handbook”was discussed with a view to agreement and accept-ance. The unions referred the pay claim to the WRC.Agreement could not be reached due to the “Ran-dom Testing Alcohol and Intoxicant Policy”. We haveinformed the company that they must remove this ifprogress is to be made.

Dublin Stevedores - Lashing and SecuringSIPTU has been pursuing a campaign of Lashingand Securing and engaged with all major stake-holders operating in and through Dublin Port. Pre-viously this union took WRC cases to securepayment for Lashing and Securing for Seafarers(Irish Ferries 2001). Meetings took place in De-cember 2015 and throughout 2016 involving ourcolleagues in the ITF.

Irish Ferries The company issued a payment, which it claimedwas in return for acceptance by workers of a ma-trix for pay increases. It refused to engage with theWRC. Ultimately it made a pay offer of 2.5%. How-ever, this carried a stipulation that those in the de-fined benefit pension scheme would receive 1%with the other 1.5% being apportioned to their defined benefit pension scheme.

Mainport Shipping/Celtic TugsA pay increase of 3% backdated to 1st January2015 and a further 3% for 2016, plus a one-off pay-ment of €1,000 per member was secured.

P&O FerriesAgreement was reached on a 1.5% increase backdated to January 1st 2016.

Peelports / MTLMeetings were held in 2015 regarding changesto work practices required by the company. Thesework practices had been previously banned by thecompany under threat of disciplinary action. Therewas further engagement with the company re-garding pay parity on behalf of crane drivers andmatters were successfully resolved.

Port of CorkA pay claim was submitted on behalf of the gen-eral workers and Pilot Launch crew. This proposalof an ex gratia payment of €1,000 per person, plusa €250 voucher for Xmas 2015 and 2016 was ac-cepted, alongside a pay increase of 2.5% from the1st January 2015 and a further 2.5% from the 1stJuly 2016 to the 31st December 2017 was alsoagreed.

Shannon Foynes Port CompanyA redundancy agreement was reached for SIPTUmembers in the Foynes Dockers Labour Pool. Theterms were confidential.

Warrenpoint HarbourAgreement was reached on a 1.5% increase backdated to 1st January 2016 with an additional 1.5%to be paid from January 1st 2017.

155SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 155

CHILDCARE

Big Start Early Years CampaignThe early years sector is in crisis. Parents are pay-ing too much for childcare. Precariously employededucators can’t make ends meet. Providers arestruggling to break even. Everyone is getting araw deal.

Historically SIPTU’s vision is for a quality, afford-able, assessable early years sector, where educa-tors are fairly rewarded and recognised for theirwork.

This is why SIPTU launched the Big Start campaignin March 2016. It is part of the Strategic OrganisingDepartment’s overarching care campaign for Decent Work, Decent Lives.

The Decent Work, Decent Lives campaign is de-signed to encourage and equip the people whoare lowest paid and most exploited to organise,assert their right to a decent job, decent pay anda decent life.

The Value of Quality Early Years The first five years are the most important in achild’s development. Investing in quality earlyyears education results in benefits such as signifi-cantly higher educational attainment and muchhigher income levels in later life. Economic analysishas consistently shown positive returns on invest-ment for the state, with benefits ranging from 2.5to 16 times the costs.

However, these benefits are dependent on qualityearly years being delivered by qualified workers.

Ireland lags behind internationally, spending just0.5% of GDP on the Early Years sector comparedto the UNICEF’s recommended internationalbenchmark of 1%, not to mention the highs of 1.8%in Iceland, 1.6% in Sweden and 1.4% in Denmark.

Moreover, the early year’s sector is seen as lowstatus, unskilled and its contribution to a child’sdevelopment is not generally recognised.

Precarious Employment Working in the Early Years sector is low paid, undervalued and precarious.

There are 23,000 early years’ educators based in4,500 workplaces, two thirds of which are privatesector, with a third in the not-for-profit communitysector. Over a 1,000 services are owned and runby a single person.

99% of early years’ educators are womenThe low level of state investment means that qual-ified early years’ educators, many holding de-grees, are paid on average just €10.27 per hour.Many are earning the minimum wage.

Thousands of workers are on precarious contractsof just 15 hours a week, 38 weeks a year.

Non-contact time, when educators’ completemandatory observation reports and prepare forthe next day, is generally unpaid. Shockingly edu-cators are working for free to maintain a qualityservice.

The abysmal pay and conditions are unsurprisinglyleading to a recruitment and retention crisis in thesector. High staff turnover, at 28.4%, underminesthe provision of quality early years services, and86% of facilities fear recruitment difficulties will im-pact on their future viability.

Simply put, workers cannot afford to stay in a jobthey love.

Quality childcare, and all the benefits for childrenthat are associated with it, is being undermined bylow pay, poor conditions and a lack of state invest-ment.

Strategic Organising SIPTU is fighting for a major increase in state in-vestment to radically transform the early years’sector and establish minimum rates of pay. Thescale of the challenge cannot be underestimatedand requires a long term strategic approach if weare to be successful.

At the core of the Big Start strategic plan is build-

Strategic Organising

Campaigns


ing a union of workers who can take effective ac-tion. We aim to put pay and quality at the heart ofthe governments early years’ policy. There are fiveother strategic areas; industrial, communications,campaigning, political and coalition building.

However, we are starting from a very low base.union density is under 5% and the sector is demor-alised and fragmented.

To date the Big Start Campaign has establishedcounty networks across the country where work-ers agree what actions to take. SIPTU activistshave had motions passed at local councils, heldpublic petition signing days, organised colleaguesinto the union, lobbied public representatives andgiven a presentation in the AV Room at LeinsterHouse to which TDs and Senators were invited.

The use of social media, worker videos and regulartargeted e-mail updates to a database of over7,000 workers and supporters have been key todeveloping awareness and building support forthe campaign among workers, parents, politiciansand the public.

Big Start Coalition There are almost twenty organisations advocatingon behalf of providers, educators or children in theearly years sector.

While progress has been made on key issueswithin the sector major ones remain unresolved,and pay has yet to be seriously addressed.

This is why SIPTU has established the Big Startcampaign coalition. By bringing together keystakeholders from the sector, we are developinga common platform that will facilitate collectivecampaigning and effective political lobbying.

The coalition currently includes Barnardos, theunion of Students in Ireland, the National Child-hood Network and other organisations.

Decent Work, Decent Lives Big Start is part of SIPTU’s Decent Work DecentLives campaign for the care sector. It covers earlyyears’ childcare, home care and nursing homes.

The targeting of these areas is deliberate. Firstly,care work is human work. It cannot be outsourcedor automated; and it is a sector that is growing.

There are currently 7,000 care staff working in pri-vate nursing homes, 19,000 employed in homecare and 23,000 in childcare. These employmentfigures are set to rise, particularly in elder care dueto demographic changes and increased life ex-pectancy.

Secondly, workers in the care sector are increas-ingly facing poor pay and conditions.

Caring work whether in the home or in paid em-ployment, has traditionally been undervalued andunder-recognised by society. This is clearly re-flected in the current employment conditions ofmany workers in the caring sector, which are char-acterised by low pay, poor conditions and precar-ious fixed term and if-and-when contracts.

It is not a coincidence that this work is carried outalmost exclusively by women who are not in aunion.

As history shows us, it is only by building workerpower that we can effectively challenge exploita-tion and poor working conditions. The care sectorneeds a union.

SIPTU Support Within the union, the Strategic Organising Cam-paign is working in conjunction with the Cam-paigns and Equality Unit, CommunicationsDepartment, the Public Administration and Com-munity Division, the Policy Department, IT andSIPTU College.

Family Resource CentresAlmost 250 employees in over 100 Family Resource Centres (FRCs) work with families tocombat disadvantage and improve the function-ing of the family unit.

Although a key part of TUSLA’s family services and100% state funded, FRC workers were dispropor-tionately impacted by austerity cuts, compared todirectly employed state employees.

In 2015 the Strategic Organising Departmentstarted a campaign targeting FRC workers.

An access agreement was negotiated at nationallevel by the Strategic Organising Department, sothat a team of organisers could meet workers ineach individual service. Leaders were identifiedand a series of elections held for area representa-tives.


1. Contract Cleaners and hospital workers in St James Hospital on International Justice Day for Contract Cleaners

2. SIPTU Healthcare assistant campaigning for recognition and respect.

3. Big Start activists and organisers at launch of the submission on Early Years funding at the Mansion House, December 2016.

1

2

3


union density now stands at over 90% with an ac-tive national committee. To date a pay agreementhas been negotiated with the FRC Employersgroup and the campaign continues for fundingfrom TUSLA.

CONTRACT CLEANING - FAIR DEAL FOR CLEANERSContract Cleaners contribute to our society in somany ways, but they are often unappreciated.Building on previous organising initiatives contractcleaners sought to change this by continuing toincrease their visibility, and voice, by buildingworker power and influence throughout the sec-tor.

SIPTU’s, Fair Deal for Cleaners campaign has con-tinued to bring cleaners out of the shadows bothlocally and nationally.

During the period of this report extensive industryresearch was conducted, mapping contract clean-ing services across Ireland in health, education,transport and retail. This was crucial in identifyingindividual cleaning contractors’ industry marketshare while enabling the union to identify andtrack procurement trends in a sector that employsan estimated 20,000 workers.

Several strategic sites were identified across thehealth, public transport and higher education sec-tors as organising targets. Joint meetings betweenthe union’s Organising Team and Sector IndustrialTeam were used to develop an organising and in-dustrial agenda that could be pursued to seek im-provements. Issue based organising campaignswere undertaken on numerous sites across thethree targeted sectors. As a direct result of this ac-tivity, new workplace committees sprang up,union membership grew and cleaner’s issuescould no longer be disregarded by contractors.The campaign continued to build solid, sustainableunion structures on these targeted sites. The num-ber of shop stewards, workplace leaders and com-mittees rose steadily. Average density levels of60% were achieved.

The leadership and organising training programmedeveloped for Contract Cleaners was delivered toactivists drawn from various locations and employ-ments, and, in many cases, was their first interac-tion with the union’s education programme. Thistraining equips them to build density and progress

issue-based organising at local level. While thefocus of the campaign continued to be workplacebased, the worker leaders continued to partici-pate in the broader union agenda, attending theCleaning Sub Sector meetings which had initiallybeen established in 2014.

This forum facilitates interaction amongst cleanersfrom a cross section of the sector, thus influencingpolicy and direction within the Sector. This inter-action proved vital during the negotiations on theContract Cleaning Employment Regulation Order(ERO), which involved the direct involvement ofActivists from the sector. Despite a challenging in-dustrial background, SIPTU and its’ activists suc-cessfully negotiated the first of two EROs duringthe summer of 2015, which came into effect in Oc-tober 2015, with its successor coming into effecton 26th December 2016.

At an international level the SIPTU ‘Fair Deal forCleaners Campaign’ participated in many UNI Eu-ropa and UNI Global Cleaning Sector Forums en-suring that challenges that face Irish ContractCleaners had a European platform. This forum wasinstrumental in rolling out The Cleaners Charteracross Europe. The Charter is a protocol that en-sures that those procuring contracted cleaningservices are responsible for ensuring that the con-tractor is responsible and recognises the cleaners’right to organise. This approach proved most ef-fective when contract cleaners in the Midlands Re-gional Hospital in Tullamore, chose to form a unionand become organised. Despite working in un-favourable conditions and being subjected to con-tinual hostility by the employer, this group ofextraordinary SIPTU members stood firm and notonly built a strong union but successfully negoti-ated a favourable outcome. With the assistance ofthe SIPTU Health Division and its local activists, thisgroup of Contract Cleaners will soon have the op-portunity to become directly employed by theHSE.

SIPTU, the campaign’s cleaning activists and thesector generally participated in the InternationalJustice Day for Cleaners in a commemorative andcelebratory fashion.

None of the achievements of the campaign overthe last two years could have been realised with-out the commitment of workplace leaders, com-mittees and members who took a stand in theirown workplaces and beyond. The collaborative


approach adopted by Organisers from bothStrategic Organising and the Cleaning and Secu-rity Sector has also played a pivotal role in realis-ing campaign goals. Moreover, Contract Cleanerswho embraced the organising agenda continuedto build union density, SIPTU structures andworker power. They are most certainly no longerinvisible.

DUBLIN HOSPITALS SUPPORTGRADES CAMPAIGN Within SIPTU, the Support Grades Sector includesHealth Care Assistants (HCAs), those caring for theintellectually disabled, home helps, catering staff,porters, maintenance, household and other work-ers who perform vital tasks that ensure the deliv-ery of services to the public. In 2013/2014 astrategic decision was taken to resource an organ-ising initiative focused primarily on hospitals in theDublin area.

Maintaining this focus in 2015 and 2016, the cam-paign was resourced with four organisers. Thestrategy was simple; engage with workers andshop stewards from across the support grades intargeted locations, assess the union density levelsand design an organising campaign from there. Asimple concept but not without its’ challenges.

Organisers continually identified and mapped thevarious grades, identifying areas for growth whileaddressing union leadership deficits where appro-priate. By mid-2015, the Organising Team had di-rectly interacted with support grade workers from30 different Dublin based hospitals.

Specific Campaign messaging was developed andthousands of one to one conversations with Sup-port Grade workers were conducted by Organis-ers who engaged with both members and non-members. All activity took place on site with theorganisers working through every hospital corri-dor and each section of each location engagingwith HCAs, Porters, Catering and Household Staff,Lab Aides and Interns on the role and function oftheir union. Their work was further supported withcontinual use of grade and location specificworker surveys, which invited all workers to ex-press their views in relation to matters that wereof concern to them. These surveys were distrib-uted and collected by both activists and Organis-ers with an average completion and return rate of72% in locations where the survey was run. Furtherto the surveys being completed, a “YOUR RE-

SULTS ARE IN” newsletter that was grade specificwas designed and circulated to the workforce.Such activities resonated with members and non-members alike, resulting in workers from a crosssection of the grades, not only becoming mem-bers but, in some cases, activists. Increased com-munication, combined with leadershipdevelopment has complemented this approach,resulting in the successful formation of workplacecommittees in many locations.

To further enhance growth, specific leadershipand organising training courses were developedand delivered to 65 activists from across a widerange of grades and locations, focusing on thepractical application of organising skills and issuebased organising within their respective work-places.

This foundation was further strengthened by thecollaboration of both Industrial and OrganisingTeams, who consistently worked together in anumber of key locations to guide committees andnewer activists in progressing issues at local level.This team working proved critical during the vari-ous ballots over the period of this report

As the campaign continued to develop it emergedthat one of the key groups in most need of organ-isation were Interns. For various different reasons,they told Organisers that they didn’t feel that theyhad a meaningful role in the union. By engagingwith them on their concerns, the organising ap-proach assisted in building not only their confi-dence within their respective workplaces but alsoin the union, therefore building on the ideal of“One Big union”.

Despite numerous challenges, Support GradeWorkers across a range of Dublin Hospitals havechosen to organise. Hundreds of Dublin basedHCAs, Interns, Lab Aides, Catering Assistants,Household Assistants and Porters have chosen tojoin, complete workplace surveys and become ac-tive in SIPTU. Density has substantially increasedin each location and newly organised sectionshave sprung up, some having been organised fromscratch, thus enabling Support Grade Workers tobuild their strength and power. By the close of2016 the average density across a range of sup-port grades is a healthy 72% and growing. Activistfigures have increased and this too continues tobe the case.

Furthermore, this initiative expanded beyond theDublin Area with organising activity having com-


menced in several hospitals in the North East andMidlands.

Such promising growth and worker engagementwould not have been possible without the com-mitment and activism of all the members and thevarious leaders who work tirelessly in a health sys-tem often overwhelmed trying to meet public de-mand with scarce resources. Their professionalismand contribution within their own workplaces, andtheir belief and support for an organised voicebodes well for all our futures and for our healthservice.

Intellectual Disability SectorIn mid-2015, some of the Campaign’s focus and itsresources began to evaluate the union density andinfluence among a few targeted employers withinthe Intellectual Disability Sector, primarily in theDublin Area. Activity here was somewhat differentto the Dublin Hospitals Initiative. Organisers expe-rienced challenges accessing members and non-members alike. In some cases, communicationwith workers was frustrated by employers. Never-theless activists and organisers persevered.

Conducting a large number of one to one inter-views and surveying as many workers as possible,the issues and challenges specific to Social CareWorkers and Care Attendants employed withinthe Sector were identified, and a joint industrialand organising strategy was developed for imple-mentation. This approach resulted in the uniongaining respect amongst this scattered and some-times isolated workforce. Many chose to joinSIPTU, regaining confidence through participatingin various collective actions, which in turn compli-mented the industrial strategy. This commitmentsecured improvements in terms and conditions,while the density in a number of locations has in-creased to 70%, with the numbers of worksiteleaders and activists notably increasing.

In some locations, Organisers successfully negoti-ated “access and neutrality agreements” whichhave enabled them and SIPTU activists to addressnew recruits at their training inductions, whilst inother areas agreements have enabled activists toengage locally in organising activity within theirworksites. Training specific requirements wereidentified for union activists within the sector

which resulted in specific leadership, organisingand communications training being delivered.

DECENT WORK/DECENT LIVES: Nursing Homes,Private and Voluntary Home Care - The CareCampaign

During 2016, the Strategic Organising Departmentcommenced work on organising workers in Nurs-ing Homes, and the Voluntary and Private HomeCare sectors nationally. This new undertaking wasa key component of the “Decent Work/DecentLives” Campaign, which was launched at the Bien-nial Delegate Conference in November 2015.

Extensive research began in these sectors, identi-fying and mapping potential targets. Initial out-reach to workers also commenced.

For many of those employed within the Sector,some of whom have never had any previous inter-action with SIPTU, or any union, the challenges aregreat. Among them were low pay, lack of job se-curity or respect, zero hour contracts, perceivedhostility by employers to unionisation, and havingno tradition of a collective and organised voice.

Despite such challenges, Organisers continue towork with those in the Sector, supporting their ef-forts to effect change and build a strong and vi-brant union in 2017 and beyond.

The SIPTU Campaigns and Equality Unit carry outthe objective of the union broadly under the head-ings of equality, campaigns and social media.

The equality function is developed through theoperation of the Equality Sub Committee, which isthe primary body in the union with responsibilityfor promoting equality and for considering equal-ity related matters. This Committee is a Sub Com-mittee of the National Executive Committee. It hasa term of office of two years and meets bi-monthly.

Rule 102 of the union charges the Equality SubCommittee with the following:

‘Promoting equality, considering equality issuesand reporting directly to the National ExecutiveCouncil.

‘Developing women leaders and leaders of thenon-Irish nationals in the community so that theywould have the confidence and experience to playa full role in the union’s decision making;

‘Encouraging and pursuing the implementation ofequality policy and strategy as determined by theNational Executive Council and Biennial DelegateConferences.’

The term of office of the Sub Committee endedwithin the time frame of this report and anotherone commenced.

Membership of the Equality Sub Committee 2015Ms Elizabeth CunninghamMs Mary DurkinMs Jemma MackeyMs Bridget BurrowsMs Suzanne GriffinMs Maureen RyanMr Vincent TynanMs Ann RussellMs Amanda KavanaghMr Leonard SimpsonMr Ernie DevlinMs Helen MurphyMs Mary Van GelderMr Anna WianowskaMs Ann Ryan

Mr David ConnollyMs Margaret EganMs Anton McCabe

Membership of the Equality Sub Committee 2016Ms. Elisabeth CunninghamMs. Rose O ReillyMr. Sean ClarkeMs. Ann RussellMs. Suzanne GriffinMs. Maureen RyanMs. Sally RockMr. Padraig HeverinMs. Maureen RyanMr. Wieslaw StachMs. Mary Van GelderMs. Ann RyanMs. Margaret EganMs. Mary Dolan McLoughlinMs. Amanda KavanaghMs. Rose DonnellyMr. Padraig PeytonMs. Margaret CooneyMs. Catherine Smith

The majority of the work of the Equality Sub Committee was carried out under the headings ofgender equality, young workers and students,LGBT, migrant workers, disability, human rightsand equality and global solidarity.

Gender EqualityThe female membership of SIPTU is in excess of40% and it is incumbent on the union to ensurethat its female members have the capacity to par-ticipate in the activities of the union to the fullestextent for the best possible outcome. This is nec-essary not just for equality but because womenare overrepresented in occupations that offerlower wages than jobs predominantly carried outby men. This largely explains the average 16% gen-der pay gap across Europe – although a 2016study by recruitment provider Morgan McKinley incollaboration with Emolument.com identified theaverage gender pay gap in Ireland in 2016 asbeing as high as 20%. The concentration ofwomen in low-paid sectors in Ireland supports this

Campaigns and Equality

2015-2016



data, showing that 45.9% of women working in themarket economy do so in the traditionally low-paid sectors of hospitality and distribution. The fig-ure for men is 16.5 percent. Women areoverrepresented in the temporary and part timework areas, and of the 75,000 workers on the min-imum wage, 65% (48,750) are women. This resultsin the pressures of living on such a low wage beingdisproportionately felt by women. Having regardto all of this and having regard to the rules of theunion that require all committees to be at least33% female or male – subject to the demographicsof the sector, SIPTU Equality undertook a genderaudit of the structure of the union to establish theextent of female participation.

The audit established that the gender participa-tion level for women at NEC level is at 36%, thatfour of the five Divisions within the union are meet-ing or exceeding the 33% rule and that 62% of sec-tor committees are also meeting or exceeding thetarget. Further analysis from the data demon-strates that of the 38% of sectors with a participa-tion rate of less than 33% - 75% had apredominately male membership. Further work isnow being undertaken with the sectors to encour-age and improve female participation.

The union’s 1916 centenary commemorationswere complimented with a SIPTU Equality evententitled Women@Work. This event included aphotographic exhibition of working women downthrough the ages, and a dramatic piece speciallypenned for the occasion by Irish Equity memberLaurence Foster and performed by members ofthe Irish Equity Executive including Irish EquityPresident Padraig Murray. There were speakingcontributions from Mags O’Brien (Reclaim the Vi-sion of 1916), Anne Speed (trade unionist), KaranO Loughlin (trade unionist), Mary McAuliffe (Histo-rian), Alice Mary Higgins (Policy Advisor NWC),Sarah Durcan, Waking the Feminists, and musicalcontributions from Niamh Parsons (MUI Vice Pres-ident) and Eric Fleming (trade union Singer).

The union activity for International Women’s day2016 was to partner with the Waking the Feministsgroup to host their 2nd event in Liberty Hall. Thiswas a hugely popular event that is creating astrong network of people putting a new focus onthe gender equality issue. SIPTU Equality alsomade a speaking contribution to the closing of theWaking the Feminist Campaign in the Abby The-atre in October of 2016.

SIPTU continued its representation on the ICTUWomen’s Committee and a delegation of 13 ac-tivists attended the ICTU Women’s Conference inMullingar. This was a successful and participativeconference. Two motions were submitted andpassed on behalf of SIPTU, one in respect of gen-der balance for tutoring at the proposed worker’scollege, and one re-emphasised the importancehaving employers and workers in general fullyaware of their rights and obligations in dealingwith and preventing bullying and harassment inthe workplace.

SIPTU Equality is also represented on the NationalWomen’s Council of Ireland, and SIPTU Equalitysubmitted a motion to the AGM to have the policyof a collectively bargained living wage adopted aspart of the Council’s own policy. The motion wassupported by the AGM.

Young WorkersWhile SIPTU welcomes the reduction in youth un-employment (although it is still higher than the na-tional average), we remain concerned about thegrowing number of young people on low pay andin precarious employment. Data from the NERI In-stitute on the minimum wage (2015) found that39.1% of young people aged 18-29 years in thelabour force were working for the minimum wage.

There is also increasing concern about the chang-ing nature of the labour market, with significantgrowth in precarious employment and what oth-ers refer to as contingent labour. Those engagedin internships, temporary work, part-time jobs,zero-hours contracts and sub-contracting com-prise an ever-growing segment of the labourforce.

This trend particularly impacts on young people,women and migrants. Many young workers arehaving the traditional entry into well-paid and se-cure employment elongated and frustrated by theproliferation of internships and temporary jobs onminimum and low wages.

During 2015-2016 the Campaigns and EqualityUnit took an extensive look at how to restructureyouth involvement in SIPTU to ensure that youngpeople are represented throughout the union. Inearly 2016 a SIPTU Youth Committee was set upto begin this review process.


A delegation of young SIPTU members travelled toBrussels on 7th of December 2016 to make a pres-entation on the world of work for young people inIreland to a group of European Parliamentarians.The presentation was part of a European fundedproject in cooperation with the SOLIDAR Founda-tion and the report was very well received.

On 25th of June 2016, we held a consultativemeeting for young people in Liberty Hall to discussthe future of the trade union movement.

Between the 10th and the 16th of September2016, SIPTU Services Division Members NiamhMurtagh and Dan O’ Neill took part in the UNIGlobal Youth Camp in Berlin. The aim of the eventwas to bring together trade union activists fromacross the globe to discuss changing working con-ditions brought on by over a decade of globalisa-tion and rapidly changing technology. Theactivists also discussed strategies which couldpromote greater youth involvement in the tradeunion movement, the effect changing technologywas having on young workers and the growinguse of smartphones by employers to avoid roster-ing shifts in advance.

SIPTU’s relationship with the union of Students inIreland has continued to move from strength tostrength. Throughout 2015 and 2016, SIPTUworked with USI on several initiatives including thesetting up of a coalition on the future funding ofthird level education.

Following on from the successful Alicia BradyCommemorations held by the union for a numberof years running, including a wreath laying com-memoration in December 2015, on 16th of Decem-ber 2016, the Young Workers Network launchedan annual Alicia Brady Award to remember this1913 Lockout martyr and highlight campaigns byworkers’ struggling to have the value of their workrecognised and adequately rewarded. The inaugu-ral award was presented to union members work-ing as early years’ educators, who are part of theunion’s Big Start campaign. The event was sup-ported by the SIPTU Dublin District Council, theSIPTU Equality Committee, the Big Start Campaignand the Irish Labour History Society.

LGBT

SIPTU supported the Pride Marches in 2015 and2016 and again lit up the top of Liberty Hall with

the colours of the rainbow flag for the week of thePride Festival. SIPTU Equality also participated inthe inaugural ICTU LGBT Conference in Belfast,Equal in the Workplace – Equal in Society. Thisconference emphasised that preventing peoplefrom being themselves at work creates health andwellbeing issues.

There needs to be a strong driving policy structurewith clear policies on gender identity, bullying inthe workplace and protecting visibility. That is thekey. Challenging employers on pensions rules forpartners and including LGBT workers in their pa-ternity leave policies are important aspects ofworking life not yet strongly developed.

The conference highlighted the need for marriageequality in Northern Ireland and analysed the bar-riers to the Love Equality campaign for equal mar-riage. The trade union message from thisconference is that it is ok to be who you are atwork – your union supports you.

Migrant WorkersIn recognising the growing number of interna-tional workers now organised in SIPTU the uniontook a decision to extend the existing scholarshipscheme for members and their children to includea category for migrant workers in 2015. This at-tracted a high number of applicants and the firstever winner, a female member from the contractservices industry based in Galway was announcedin 2016.

Over the weekend of May 20th to 22nd 2016 theEquality Sub Committee hosted the 2nd annualpolish festival, Polska Eire - A Taste of Poland, inLiberty Hall. This event included an arts exhibition,craft and food stall, traditional Polish music anddancing, an address from Adam Beilecki the Polishclimber and artic explorer, an address from thePolish Ambassador and performances by two pop-ular Polish bands. This event was a great successand over 500 people attended. The event waspart of nationwide celebrations during whichSIPTU also gave a presentation on the forgottenwomen of 1916 to the festival in Limerick, after thescreening of a Polish documentary on the role ofwomen in the Polish trade union Solidarnorsc.

Ireland, unlike most other EU countries, has nohate crime legislation. During the term of this re-port SIPTU supported the European NetworkAgainst Racism (ENAR) in its Love not Hate cam-paign, calling on the government to enact


the Criminal Law (Hate Crime) Bill to protect mi-norities in Ireland. On January 21st, 2016, the unionhosted the ENAR one day event Understandingand Responding to Islamophobia in Liberty Hall.SIPTU Equality also continues to support the ShowRacism the Red Card Campaign to end racism insport.

DisabilitySIPTU continues to be represented on the ICTUDisability Committee and its representatives at-tended both ICTU Disability conferences in 2015and 2016. Delegates at these conferences dis-cussed decent work that is productive for peoplewith disabilities and delivers a fair income. Theconferences welcomed and debated employmentstrategies for people with disabilities in both Northand South jurisdictions on the island of Ireland. The2017 seminar will provide an update on both andwill hear from both people with disabilities in employment and the companies employing them.

In relation to the responsibilities of states to implement employment measures under the UNConvention on the Rights of People with Disabilities(UNCRPD), delegates urged the Irish Governmentto follow up on its commitment to ratify the UNCRPD before the end of year. This call did notgo unheeded as the Disability (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2016 which seeks to address the remaining legislative barriers to the ratification byIreland received government support in December2016. The UNCRPD provides the framework to advocate for, protect and ensure the rights of allpeople with disabilities, and promote equal rightsin all areas of life.

Human Rights and EqualitySIPTU is represented on the steering committee ofthe Equality and Rights Alliance (ERA) which is acivil society coalition working for an effectiveequality and human rights infrastructure in Ireland.During the 2015-2016 period, ERA produced sev-eral submissions and reports including:

Submission to the economic forecasting organi-sation the Economic Cycle Research Institute(ECRI) on its fourth monitoring cycle: March 2015

Submission to UN International CoordinatingCommittee (ICC) of national institutions for thepromotion and protection of human rights on theaccreditation of the Irish Human Rights andEquality Commission: February 2015

Equality and Human Rights: An Integrated

Approach

A New Public Sector: Equality and Human RightsDuty

An Analysis of Socio-Economic Status as a Discrimination Ground

Civil Society Guide to the Public-Sector Duty

SIPTU also hosted a round table discussion onthe equality function of the Workplace Relations Commission in Liberty Hall.

SIPTU Global Solidarity Committee

The Global Solidarity Committee had a number ofsuccessful initiatives in 2015 and 2016, furtheringits objectives, which are to undertake:

• International Solidarity Action with the politically oppressed and economically disadvantaged peoples of the world.

• Develop the union's International Affairs Policy to advance the cause of Social Justice throughout the world.

• Promote trade union rights and a Decent Work Agenda with a priority on trade union organising.

• Develop links with the European and international trade union movement in order to advance the fight for a more equitable world.

In addition, the committee promotes Global Soli-darity amongst union members through appropri-ate action and means, with a particular focus ondevelopment education. It assists with organisingworkers into membership of the union through itsactivities and campaigns. It also acts as a co-ordi-nating platform for the activities undertaken byvarious groups acting in solidarity with the peo-ples of Cuba, Palestine, Venezuela and Colombia.

Over the last two years the committee has setabout prioritising the union’s Global Solidarity ac-tivities through Solidarity with Palestine, the de-velopment of a Global Solidarity Activist Networkand the campaign against the Transatlantic Tradeand Investment Partnership (TTIP). The committeehas undertaken various activities, including organ-ising a Solidarity Conference with Palestine, stand-ing side-by-side with workers in the US on theGlobal Day of Action for the ‘Fight for 15’ andthrough events on Fair Trade.

Over the last two years the committee has beenworking against the backdrop of major globalchallenges including the 2016 US presidential elec-tion, the Brexit referendum and the rise of right


1. Presentation of the Alicia Brady award tothe Early Years educators in the Big Start campaign.

2. Global Solidarity members supporting thecampaign for hate crime legislation.

3. Inaugural meeting of Waking the Feminists, campaigning for gender equalityin the Arts.

4. SIPTU member from the Transport Sectorsupporting the European Transport Federation campaign for Fair Transport.

5. Launching the trade union campaign for secure rents.

6. SIPTU Local Authority members campaigning for a referendum to keep water in public ownership.

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wing populism in Europe, which has given rise toa nationalistic and xenophobic discourse awashwith vitriol and hate speech. Trade unions, partic-ularly in Europe, are confronted with the challengeof growing right wing populism, which uses the in-flux of refugees from war and persecution in theMiddle East to build its support base. In the US thecurrent administration has set forth policies tocontain, deport, ban - in short visit multiple formsof discrimination and institutional violence uponpeople who are Black, Latino, Muslim, immigrantand LGBTQ.

2016 became the worst year on record for attackson free speech and democracy, with workers’rights weakened in every region of the world. Ac-cording to the International Trade Union Confed-eration (ITUC) the ten worst countries for workingpeople are Belarus, Cambodia, China, Colombia,Guatemala, India, Iran, Qatar, Turkey and UnitedArab Emirates. Over 82 countries across the worldexclude workers from labour law, and in over twothirds of countries workers who have no right tocollective bargaining. More than half of all coun-tries deny some or all workers collective bargain-ing rights.

Against these immense challenges trade unionshave negotiated at the International Labour Or-ganisation (ILO) for key agreements on Global Sup-ply Chains and Labour Migration to strengthenunion rights. Over the next three years, as the Irishgovernment takes up a position on the governingbody of the International Labour Organisation, thecommittee will strive to work through the IrishCongress of Trade Unions in shaping internationalpolicies that will bolster workers’ rights and createdecent work for all, particularly through the GlobalDialogue on the Future of Work.

In addition, trade unions across the world haveworked together to ensure a strong focus on de-cent work and workers’ rights in key internationalagreements adopted at the United Nations. Theagreement of the UN Sustainable DevelopmentGoals (SDGs) and the UN Framework Conventionon Climate Change will, if implemented fully bygovernments at national and regional level, trans-form the world of work to provide decent jobs andequality for all.

Through its representation on the ICTU Global Sol-idarity Committee, the chair of which is currentlyheld by SIPTU, the union has been instrumental inleading on the work of Agenda 2030 for Sustain-able Development, Refugees and Asylum Seekers,

Fair Trade, Climate Change and Business andHuman Rights issues.

As a result of the work of the Global SolidarityCommittee, SIPTU became the first trade union toimplement a Fair Trade policy. It drafted SIPTUsubmissions to Ireland’s National Action Plan onUN Guiding Principles on Business and HumanRights, and the National Climate Change AdaptionFramework. With its support, the ICTU Global Sol-idarity Committee produced a short documentaryabout refugees in Europe to raise awareness of thesituation among trade union members.

The committee is developing a Global SolidarityActivist Network to inform and involve memberson international issues. The network will keepmembers up to date on committee activities andcampaign actions to promote global trade unionsolidarity. Through SIPTU’s social media and Lib-erty newspaper, the committee has striven to raiseawareness of union members on the need for sol-idarity action with workers across the world onpertinent international issues of the day.

Through the work of the committee, the union isdeveloping links amongst both development andhuman rights NGOs. SIPTU is currently a memberof the steering group of the National Coalition onAgenda 2030 for Sustainable Development. Ire-land’s implementation of Agenda 2030, which in-cludes a policy strand on Decent Work, is beingprioritised by government and our involvement inthis coalition ensures that we are at the centre ofinfluencing and shaping government policy andaction.

The committee’s work on human rights is facilitat-ing the union in partnering with various new com-munities here in Ireland, highlighting issuesrelating to the politically oppressed and to humanrights violations. It is hoped that by working withother sectors of the union on issues such as forcedlabour, the rights of undocumented workers, di-rect provision and eradicating racism and xeno-phobia, the committee will help ensure that thesecommunities see the importance of trade unionsas social solidarity organisations, and the value ofunion membership.

The establishment of an ICTU International and Eu-ropean Forum has further strengthened the union’swork on global solidarity issues. This forum hasboosted co-ordination with the European TradeUnion Confederation (ETUC), the InternationalTrade Union Confederation (ITUC) and the Inter-


national Labour Organisation (ILO). It allows SIPTUto work with other unions at improving our effortsto deliver social justice, end social and economicinequality and strengthen workers’ rights by influ-encing institutions and governments at the Euro-pean and International level. The Forum iscurrently chaired by SIPTU.

Furthermore, SIPTU, through is divisions, hasworked closely with trade union confederations atthe European and Global level to build workerspower and in deliver global solidarity. Our affilia-tions with these bodies assist SIPTU in informingour industrial and organising strategies, policy de-velopment and solidarity action on workers’ rights.

CAMPAIGNSThe campaigns work has several aspects to it, pro-viding support to industrial campaigns, organising,political campaigns, European campaigns and po-litical campaigns.

INDUSTRIAL CAMPAIGNS

Dublin Fire Brigade (DFB)Dublin Fire Brigade (DFB) has provided an ambu-lance service since 1898 and is the only organisa-tion in the country providing a combined medicaland medical emergency service (EMS). During itslong history, the DFB ambulance service has dealtin a professional manner with some of the city’sgreatest emergencies including the bombing ofthe North Strand in 1941, the Dublin Bombings in1974 and the Stardust fire in 1981. The service hasreceived praise for the manner in which it hasdealt with a number of large scale incidents, including a fatal accident involving a bus onWellington Quay on 2004. DFB members becameextremely concerned however by plans revealedin a document drawn up by the Health Service Executive (HSE) which proposed to remove thedelivery of Dublin’s ambulance service from theDublin Fire Brigade. In December 2016 SIPTU Campaigns supported the Division/Sector in thecampaign to fight against the separation of theseservices and the removal of call and dispatch fromthe remit of the DFB.

The campaigns and social media section of SIPTUhas also provided support for sectors and divisionsduring industrial disputes such as the Clery’s dis-pute, the RTE dispute on the outsourcing of the

making of Young Peoples programming and theDublin Bus and Luas disputes throughout 2016.

EUROPEAN CAMPAIGNS

Fair TransportWorking with the Transport Energy Aviation andConstruction Division, SIPTU Campaigns managedthe Irish portion of the ‘Fair Transport Europe’campaign for better conditions and fair pay for allemployees in Europe’s transport sector. All Euro-pean Transport Federation (ETF) affiliated unionsset about the task of collecting signatures as partof a Citizens Initiative submitted to the EuropeanCommission. Ireland came fifth in percentageterms of signatures collected, only behind Belgiumand the Nordic Countries. Throughout the cam-paign, presentations were given to committees atall levels of the union; videos were made encour-aging people to sign up to the campaign and shopstewards were encouraged to sign members upto the campaign on the shop floor.

ORGANISING CAMPAIGNS

Big StartSIPTU Campaigns continues to support the Organ-ising Department Big Start Campaign for earlyyears Educators in terms of online communicationand video production for the Campaign. This in-cludes the development of a functioning NationBuilder website and database integrated with so-cial media. The number of followers on Facebookfor this campaign grew from 0 to 2,238 in the time-line of this report. The campaign has also had quitea vibrant presence on Twitter and other socialmedia channels. In total, the Big Start campaignhas 10,997 points of contacts with people online.

POLITICAL CAMPAIGNS

HousingSIPTU was invited to join the Homeless and Hous-ing Coalition at its inception by the founders of thecoalition, Ballyfermot Help for the Homeless. Thecoalition is an amalgamation of trade unions, NGOsworking in the area of housing and homelessnessand political parties. The demands of the cam-paign were:


A largescale Government building programme toprovide public housing for rent and to provide af-fordable housing for purchase

The introduction of rent control and rent certainty

Cessation of evictions

Our first activity was a rally on December 1st 2015to mark the first anniversary of the tragic death ofJonathan Corrie, who died in a doorway onMolesworth Street, in front of Dail Eireann. Thecoalition held a second rally on 28th May, 2016,which was very well attended by housing commu-nity groups and the general public. In October2016, the trade union participants from the coali-tion joined forces with social media campaignersUPLIFT and tenant’s associations to launch the Se-cure Rents Campaign to influence the Govern-ments Strategy for the rental market. The demandsof this campaign were to:

Regulate increases by linking rents to the Con-sumer Price Index (rent certainty)

Revoke the right of landlords to evict tenants forthe purpose of sale (preventing evictions)

Move from current four year leases to indefinitelease terms (security of tenure)

EducationSIPTU Campaigns supported the education sectorin developing and promoting their submission onHigher Education Funding: Consultation on State-ment of Strategy for Education & Skills 2016-2018.The submission was made through the EducationCoalition, which is made up of the educationunions SIPTU, USI, IFUT, IMPACT, TUI. The submis-sion made the case for public funding to ensurequality of standards and equality of access for allwho wished to access higher education, and inparticular references the 2014 report by the NevinEconomic Research Institute, “We Need to Talkabout Higher Education”. The submission also ad-dressed current issues of concern such as accessand affordability, the casualisation of staff em-ployed in the delivery and support of higher edu-cation, demographic demand pressures,postgraduate funding and the quality risks associ-ated with cuts to budgets, services and supports.The unions within the education coalition remainvehemently opposed to the imposition of placingfurther burdens on students and families, whetherthis is through direct increases in upfront fees orthe introduction of a deferred payment scheme,

such as the income contingent loan model whichhas been widely reported in the media.

WaterThroughout the timeframe of this report SIPTUCampaigns worked with the PAC Division to cam-paign for a water referendum to ensure that ourwater services would not end up in private owner-ship for profit. The union policy in this regard is toensure that all households have an adequate sup-ply of water for their needs and that there wouldbe a charge on excess use to discourage wastefuluse water and to ensure that the water system canbe maintained in a manner that provides a clean,efficient and stable supply of water for everybody.In this regard, it is essential to ensure that there isno opportunity for water to be privatised, eitherdirectly or by stealth.

SOCIAL MEDIA & VIDEO Social media is the key communications channel ofthe current age for connecting with union mem-bers and the wider public. It is a powerful commu-nication, organising and campaigning tool. Itallows SIPTU to reach workers in various ways anddevelop new communities who share common in-terests with our organisation. Between January2015 and December 2016, the number of followerson SIPTU’s main Facebook page rose 126%. Duringthe same period SIPTU’s main Twitter page saw agrowth in followers of 279%.

SIPTU also saw a consistent growth in followersacross other social media pages run by the unionsuch as the Big Start Facebook page, the Justicefor the Clerys Workers Facebook page, the IrishEquity Facebook page and the Bus Workers Soli-darity Page.

As well as a continuing growth in terms of follow-ers and reach on social media, the number ofvideos produced for social media has continued togrow. In 2015, SIPTU produced approximately 35videos for social media. In 2016, SIPTU producedapproximately 42 videos distributed via socialmedia. This compares to 12 videos produced in2014.

We have also endeavoured to publish Liberty arti-cles continuously for online distribution via thismedia platform. The Campaigns and Equality Unitalso delivered numerous training workshops to ac-tivists and staff on maximising the use of socialmedia for campaigning.


StaffHead of Department: Frank ConnollyJournalist: Scott MillarGraphic Design: Sonia SlevinCommunications Assistant: Deidre PriceAdministrative Assistant: Karen Hackett

The Communications Department plays a crucialrole within the union. Its work is pro-active with astrong emphasis on encouraging active memberparticipation and is underpinned by dynamic,strong, modern messaging.

The work of the Communications Department focuses on three areas:

Internal communications – Ensuring SIPTU mem-bers and staff are kept up to date on union news,campaigns, policy and events. Production of ma-terials for union conferences and meetings. In pur-suing this aim, the Department works closely withthe union’s national officers, Divisions and Cam-paigns Department.

External communications – Connecting the unionwith the general public and operating as a pressoffice (dealing with media inquiries and arrangingunion interaction with the media). Handles in-quiries from the public and external organisations.In pursuit of this function the Department is in dailycontact with national and local media.

Events – Organising and publicising public eventsand concerts. This role was of particular impor-tance during the 2016 centenary celebrations ofthe Easter Rising.

Internal CommunicationsThe core responsibility of the Department is to in-form the union’s membership of matters of interestto their working lives and of union activities. Thisrole is key to defining the internal cohesiveness ofSIPTU by relaying its general direction as decidedby the union leadership to officials and the generalmembership. This is done through published andelectronic media.

Communication with staff and members of the NEC a) The Department distributes to all staff and mem-bers of the National Executive Council, on a dailybasis, all articles concerning the union publishedacross online and print media.

b) All press releases produced by the Departmentare distributed by email to staff and NEC mem-bers.

These sources of information keep staff and NECmembers up to date with the public activities ofthe union.

Communication with members This is the paramount role of the Department andtakes up the greater part of its work and re-sources. Materials for communication with mem-bers are produced in print and electronic formats.

Liberty newspaper – The 32-page tabloid newspa-per was published seven times in 2015 and sixtimes (including a 1916 Easter Rising special) in2016. On average 35,000 copies are distributed tomembers in workplaces across the island. Libertyis free for members but it can also be purchasedat Eason’s stores across the country.

The main focus of Liberty is the on-going industrialactivities of the union and interviews with mem-bers in their workplaces. The newspaper also pro-vides extensive reports and analysis of politicaland economic affairs, culture, sport and other mat-ters of interest to members. Contributors rangefrom members and staff of the union, and otherunions, to specialist writers, freelance contributorsand on occasion, elected representatives. The ed-itorial policy is to highlight the role and participa-tion of members across the union’s Divisions whileproviding readers with analysis and reports froma progressive political perspective, which is in-creasingly lacking across the mainstream media inIreland.

The current standard of the publication, in termsof content and design, sees it leading the way fortrade union publications in Ireland and is compa-rable to the best of similar publications interna-tionally.

Communications

Department


The newspaper is also sent out as a PDF to approx-imately 45,000 members with an opening rate ofapproximately 25%.

Liberty Online – This E-zine is sent out at regularintervals to the full email list of members. The E-zine of news, comment and analysis was publishedeight times during 2015 and seven times during2016. It features industrial news and coverage ofpolitical, economic and cultural issues of relevanceto members, Liberty View and upcoming events.It has an open rate of approximately 18%, whichresearch would indicate is around the average forsuch general bulletins issued by trade unions andNon Governmental Organisation’s (NGOs) globally.Subscribers and reader trends and choices can betracked through the Newsweaver service. During2015, the composition of Liberty Online waschanged to make articles shorter and to increasethe number of embedded videos.

Bulk emailsEmails are sent via Newsweaver to the full emaillist or sections of it according to Division, Sectoror Section. During 2015 and 2016, the topics ofthese communications with members includedhighlighting upcoming events during the 1916 Ris-ing commemorations, the General President’s re-sponses to important issues, as well as updates onpolicy issues and disputes.

Bulk text messages - sent out via NEON SMS towhole or select lists. These are produced by theDepartment on request from organisers. Thesemessages of up to 160 characters reach severalthousand members at a time, informing them ofupcoming union activities. The CommunicationsDepartment sent out 41,350 text messages in 2015and 58,724 text messages during in 2016.

Newsletters - A number of regular newsletters areproduced for various sections of the union’s mem-bership. These are produced in co-operation withthe relevant organisers. These newsletters include:

The Teller, newsletter for members in Creditunions (Insurance and Finance Sector)

Youth Workers (SIPTU Community Sector)

Sound Post (Musicians Union of Ireland, produced on a quarterly basis)

SIPTU Home Helps (SIPTU Organising Department)

State-related sector newsletter (State-related Sector)

OPW Quarterly Newsletter (State-related Sector)

Health Sector Newsletters (Health Division)

Commissioning of work by officialsWork for the Department such as the productionof leaflets, banners and other materials is commis-sioned through the completion of SIAS Job Formsby organisers. During 2015 and 2016 approxi-mately 450 requests were completed each year.

Other publications and materials – these includecampaign materials, leaflets for Divisions, Sectorsand Sections, Conference materials, reports, sub-missions and videos.

Communication with the public The Department produces a large volume of printand electronic media publications which is aimedat an audience of members and the general public.

Websites The www.siptu.ie website serves as both the maininformation portal for the public seeking informa-tion on the union and a news site for members. Itis a first stop resource for information on the unionincluding all its services, campaigns, news up-dates, video reports, structures and contact de-tails. The website is the most accessible publicface of the union and, as such, is a key communi-cations resource. The current website is probablythe most professional looking and extensive of anyIrish trade union and is comparable to the bestNGO sites in Ireland.

Currently the site is orientated towards news, butalso gives a high profile to campaigns and unionservices. In particular, it provides information onthe services of the Workers Rights Centre, and aneasy link to join the union online. The website re-ceives approximately 800 unique visitors on eachworking day. An audit of all the content on thewebsite was carried out in Autumn 2016. Text wasupdated or out of date pages deleted. Text from‘Welcome to SIPTU’ booklet was used to updatethe relevant pages on the site.

A number of websites have also been created forspecific sections of the union which the Depart-ment oversees including sites operated by theHealth Division, Equity, Workers Rights Centre andthe Musicians union of Ireland.

Recruitment materials - A 20 page ‘Welcome to


SIPTU’ booklet and associated leaflets coveringeach Division were produced in August 2016. Ap-proximately 20,000 were printed to be distrib-uted to new SIPTU members and those in thewider workforce who should be members.

Video Production – The Communications Depart-ment produces its own videos for upload to theunion’s YouTube channel (SIPTUDigital). It alsocommissions freelance filmmakers to producevideos for union campaigns. The video output ofthe Department has been greatly developed andincreased over 2015 and 2016. Videos are pro-duced to a very high professional standard in con-junction with Gansee Productions . Videos are alsoproduced under the branding SIPTUDigital bycampaigners Paddy Cole and Dan O’Neill - theseare mainly for Facebook distribution, are of an everimproving standard and have a rapid turnaroundtime. In total 35 videos were produced in 2015 and42 in 2016.

Published Reports The Department produced a number of reportsoutlining aspects of union policy during 2013 and2014

Lansdowne Road Proposals (June 2015)

A Progressive Alternative to the Universal SocialCharge (June 2015)

SIPTU Statement on the Proposed EU-US TTIP (October 2015)

The reports were published in booklet form andare also available for download on the SIPTU.iewebsite.

Campaigns materialFor every SIPTU industrial and organising cam-paign across all the union’s Divisions, Departmentsand Units, the Communications Department pro-duces supporting material such as flyers, leafletsand banners. Campaigns of particular note during2015 and 2016 included:

ServicesClerys campaign: The Communications Depart-ment was involved in every aspect of this long run-ning campaign from assisting with the initialprotests in July 2015, to producing banners andleaflets, assisting the social media campaign to or-ganising a giant projection on the front of thebuilding and organising media appearances forworkers.

Living Wage – campaign materials printed in sev-eral languages.

Health Student Nurses and Interns – leaflets and othercampaign materials produced in co-operationwith health campaigner, Paddy Cole.

Giant Balloons – design of giant campaign bal-loons.

Utilities and Construction DivisionLuas – the Department produced and publishedmaterials and videos supporting the strike actionin 2016.

Dublin Bus - Production of leaflets and series ofvideos to support strike action in 2016

Construction Sector REA – production of book-let, posters and leaflets for the Rebuild Your Fu-ture campaign for a Registered EmploymentAgreement (REA) in the Construction Sector.

Public Administration and Community Firefighters – produced leaflets and other materi-als to publise the campaign to protect the DublinFire Brigade ambulance service.

Local authority water workers – produced an ex-tensive leaflet on the threat to public water serv-ices from privatisation entitled ‘The Plot toPrivatise Water’ and assisted with the collectionof signatures for a petition on this issue.

ManufacturingSIPTU Migrant Workers Support Network - leafletproduced for launch of network.

Supporting Quality - production of e-zines, roll-upbanners, interviews with workers in member com-panies and assistance with promotional materials.

Medtronic - production of leaflets and posters forworkplace committee for recruitment and conduct of ballots.

Organising Big Start – assistance with writing and producingnewsletters, roll-up banners, petitions and notices.

Campaigns Marriage Equality Referendum – leaflets, bannersand posters.

Housing – publication of housing documents andassistance with public meetings.

Polska Eire – production of leaflets, posters and invitations for festivals in 2015 and 2016


External mediaThe Department has the responsibility for oversee-ing the relaying of the positions and policies of theunion to the public through other media.

Communications with media organisationsPress Office - The Department fulfills the role of apress office; processing requests, from both na-tional and local media for comments and inter-views on issues in which the union is involved orhas a stated position. It processes requests forunion officials or members to take part in mediapanel discussions or debates as members of theaudience. This role is crucial for the union’s publicimage and ensuring that our viewpoint is repre-sented within the mainstream media.

Press Releases - The Department issued 263 pressreleases in 2015 and 307 in 2016. These coveredthe full range of industrial relations matters acrossall Divisions. Generated at the request of industrialofficials, the news releases are prepared by theCommunications Department and sent to a list ofover 400 media contacts across the country.These press releases are crucial in bringing theunion’s position to the wider public. They gener-ated numerous articles in national and local news-papers as well as many interviews with officials onradio and television.

International MediaThe Department has frequent contact with the in-ternational media and with the European andglobal trade union movement particularly in rela-tion to the economy. The Department has alsosupported union campaigns of international soli-darity with the peoples of Palestine, Cuba, Colom-bia and other countries. This support included theproduction of materials for the SIPTU Global Soli-darity Committee which includes posters, leafletsand banners.

The Department frequently facilitated visits to Lib-erty Hall by delegates from unions across Europe,the US and other countries.

SIPTU Biennial Delegate Conference 2015For the SIPTU Biennial Delegate Conference 2015,held in City Hall, Cork, in October, a very large (ap-proximately 3 meter by 8 meter) backdrop featur-ing images relating to actions by members of thefive Divisions over the preceding months. The Department also oversaw the production of theConference Clár, Biennial report and other mate-rials.

Biennial Divisional Conferences 2016For the five Biennial Divisional Conferences in 2016the Department produced a nine-minute video film‘Celebrating the Centenary of the EasterRising’ which featured the union’s commemora-tion events and was produced in conjunction withGansee Films. The Department also oversaw theproduction of banners and information materialsfor these conferences.

1916 Easter Rising Centenary CommemorationThe Communications Department in co-operationwith the staff of Liberty Hall organised a series ofsuccessful occasions to commemorate the role ofworkers, the ITGWU, Liberty Hall and the Irish Cit-izen Army before, during and after the Easter Ris-ing of 1916. Four highly successful concerts werepart of the calendar of commemoration events.Among the high profile artists which performed atthree concerts were Christy Moore, Eddi Reader,Matt Molloy, Paula Meehan, Theo Dorgan, KaranCasey, Damian Dempsey, Niall Vallely andLynched. The President of Ireland, Michael D Hig-gins, attended the concerts along with unionmembers and relatives of those who fought in theRising.

The Department also assisted with the recovery ofthe original Green Flag which was hoisted outsideLiberty Hall on Palm Sunday 1916, just over a weekbefore the Rising. The flag was obtained on loanin March 2016 just before the Easter Rising com-memorations from the Inniskillings Museum incounty Fermanagh where it had been in storagefor several decades. The Department learned ofthe existence of the flag and other material of his-torical importance, which had been taken by theBritish army regiment during the Easter Rising,from colleagues in the Communications WorkersUnion. The Green Flag was restored before it waspresented to President Higgins at a ceremony inÁras an Uachtaráin on 22nd March, 2016.

The Department helped with the State commem-oration of the Irish Citizen Army on 29th March,which was addressed by President Higgins and at-tended by hundreds of relatives of those whofought with the ICA during the revolutionary pe-riod. The president laid a wreath at the statue ofJames Connolly and performers included theDublin Fire Brigade Pipe Band.

The Communications Department produced a spe-cial commemorative edition of Liberty in April


2016 and helped with the design of a wrap con-sisting of scenes associated with the rising whichcovered Liberty Hall for most of the year. The wrapwas based on a tapestry designed by Robert Bal-lagh and created by volunteers who had helpedcreate the 1913 Lockout Tapestry in 2013. The Tap-estry was on display at Liberty Hall during EasterWeek 2016, along with memorabilia from the Ris-ing provided by relatives of ICA members. Theseincluded artefacts from Liberty Hall in 1916 andcorrespondence from leading figures in the ICAsuch as William Partridge and CountessMarkievicz. The Tapestry was subsequently on dis-play at a number of public venues along with theLockout Tapestry, to which it forms a natural ex-tension, showing the linkages between the twoevents through the expression of common aspira-tions to national freedom, social and economic jus-tice. The Department also assisted the Dublin

District Council and local communities with theraising of 12 ICA commemorative plaques acrossthe city during the centenary year.

A book which comprised all issues of James Con-nolly’s newspaper the Workers’ Republic was pro-duced (800 paperbacks and 200 hardbacks) forsale and distribution during the commemorationperiod.

Other activities

Media TrainingThe Department organised and conducted a num-ber of media training days for union organisers andactivists. These included courses held in SIPTUCollege and shorter seminars in Liberty Hall.

Congress CommunicationsThe Department has continued to play an activerole in joint communications projects and the de-velopment of Congress campaigns. During 2016Congress launched a shared Internet portal whichaggregates affiliated unions press releases andother news articles. Since its establishment in 2016the Department has also played an active role inthe ICTU Communications Committee.

Performing at the Glórtha 1916 Centenary Concert were from left to rightLouise Mulcahy, Stephen Murphy, Conor McKeown and Christy Moore.Photo: Derek Speirs


The retired members section offers an opportunityfor continued involvement in the union, assistingit to achieve its objective of a fair and just society.The section has a regional and national structure,with each of the five regions nominating represen-tatives to the national committee. Padraig Browneis the chair of the national committee and PaddyMoran is the secretary. The administration of thesection is supported by Catherine Caffrey, admin-istrative assistant and Karan O Loughlin, NationalCampaigns and Equality Organiser. During 2015and 2016 the National Committee was made up ofthe following retired members;

2015Peter CampbellTomás O'FhaoláinJerry BrowneSean RocheHarry ByrneAnthony GilliganJohn James McLoughlinMartin O'NeillBilly DoyleJimmy LynchSeamus RodgersMary TraynorChristine O'FlynnEsther CowanFinbarr FoleyPat HarringtonSeamus MurrayMargaret CooneyMairied HayesJohn WalshPadraig BrowneLarry DugganManus O'DonnellJerry O'Callaghan

2016Peter CampbellTomas O'FaolanJerry BrowneSean RocheAnthony Gilligan

John James McLoughlinMartin O'NeillBilly DoyleJimmy LynchSeamus RodgersMary TraynorChristine O'FlynnFinbarr FoleyPat HarringtonSeamus MurrayMargaret CooneyMairied HayesJohn WalshPadraig BrowneLarry DugganManus O'DonnellJerry O'CallaghanPat ClarkeTom CroweMichael CullenPat Lamon

The retired members section has an observer onthe NEC. Paddy Moran currently holds this seatand the section also nominates delegates to theICTU retired members’ committee.

The retired members played a full and active partin the 2015 BDC and submitted two motions: onewas on care, covering nursing homes and the fairdeal scheme; the other was on the retention of thetravel pass for retired people. Both motions wereadopted at the conference.

The members involved in the section were activeon the Senior Citizens Parliament, holding a num-ber of seats on the Executive, as Trustees and onthe Standing Orders Committees. The SIPTU Chairof the retired members Region Two CommitteeJohn Walsh continues to hold the Chairmanship ofthe Parliament, having first been elected in 2014.

Pre-budget submissions were made in both 2015and 2016 on behalf of the section and both sub-missions were consistent with the retired mem-bers motions passed at the BDC 2015, and atmeetings of the Senior Citizens Parliament.

Retired Members

177SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016177 SIPTU • Annual Report 2013/2014

Retired Members ConferenceThe retired members conference took place on 1stDecember 2015 in Liberty Hall with over 120 mem-bers in attendance. The conference was openedby Jack O’Connor, General President and fourworkshops took place over the course of the con-ference covering the following topics;

1. Housing

2. Transport

3. Health and Prescriptions

4. Pensions

Regions put forward motions to this conferencecovering a range of topics on matters of concernto older people.

1916By way of commemorating the 1916 Centenary thesection organised a tour of several 1916 plaque lo-cations followed by a talk on 1916 from retiredmember’s activist Des McGuinness in Liberty Hall,called ‘Labour, Liberty and 1916’. The day includeda visit to Lourdes Parish School, Sean McDermottStreet, for the unveiling of a plaque to the Irish Cit-izen Army at that location.

Divisional conferences 2016The Retired Members Committee sent delegatesto all of the 2016 Divisional conferences held inLiberty hall. All of the motions submitted by thesection were consistent with the union’s pre-bud-get submission and the BDC motions, thus ensur-ing proper integration of the retired membersissues into the mainstream policy positions of theDivisions.

A delegation consisting of Karan O Loughlin, National Campaigns and Equality Organiser,Padraig Browne, National Committee Chair andPaddy Moran National Committee Secretary at-tended a meeting with Helen McEntee, the Minis-ter with Responsibility for Older People, inNovember 2016. The delegation took this oppor-tunity to take the Minister through the points onthe pre-budget submission and confirm for theMinister the desire of the SIPTU retired memberssection to be actively involved in the NationalAgeing Strategy.

Membership Consultation InitiativeThe retired members section also actively con-tributed to the membership consultation initiativeand were represented on the steering committeefor the initiative by Paddy Moran.

The retired members section remains a very valu-able active group within the union and have beenvery much at hand to assist with demonstrations,leafleting and supporting disputes whenever nec-essary.


SIPTU Membership Services is a coordinated servicewhich provides members and their families with dis-counts and benefits across a wide range of productsand services. These include car, home and travel In-surance, income protection plans on both an individ-ual and group scheme basis, and a tax refundservice.

JLT Ireland, one of the world’s largest providers of in-surance, reinsurance and employee benefits, hasbeen appointed by SIPTU to coordinate MembershipServices. Each year Membership Services devisesand carries out a sustained marketing plan to activelypromote the services throughout the membership.Components of the campaign include regular mail-shots to Divisions, Shop Stewards and Officials. Mer-

chandise including posters for workplace notice-boards and flyers for distribution are sent to workplaces. Membership Services also undertakes sitevisits to work places, presentations to various com-mittees and has information stands at the annualconferences

In addition, Membership Services issues a quarterlyezine and have regular ads, articles and updates inLiberty and Liberty on Line. Updated information anddetails on how to access the services are also avail-able on www.siptu.ie via the web button for ‘SIPTUMembership Services’ on the home page.

SIPTU Membership

Services


SERVICES, INDUSTRIAL, PROFESSIONALAND TECHNICAL UNION

STATEMENT OF TRUSTEES’ RESPONSIBILITIES

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2016

The Trustees are responsible for preparing theAnnual Report and the financial statements. in accordance with applicable Trade Union law,Miscellaneous Technical Statement 28, "AnnualFinancial Statements of Trade Unions",and FRS 102, "The Financial Reporting Standardapplicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland" is-sued by the Financial Reporting Council, andpromulgated by the Institute of Chartered Ac-countants in Ireland.

The Trustees are required to prepare financialstatements for each financial period. TheTrustees must not approve the financial state-ments unless they are satisfied that they give atrue and fair view of the assets, liabilities andfinancial position of the union as at the financialyear end date and of the surplus or deficit of theUnion for the financial year.In preparing those financial statements theTrustees are required to:• Select suitable accounting policies and then

apply them consistently;• Make judgements and estimates that are

reasonable and prudent;• State whether the financial statements have

been prepared in accordance with applicable accounting standards, identify those standards, and note the effect and the reasons for any material departure from those standards; and

• Prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the union will continue in operation.

The Trustees confirm that they have compliedwith the above requirements in preparing the fi-nancial statements.

The Trustees are responsible for ensuring thatthe union keeps or causes to be kept adequateaccounting records which correctly explain andrecord the transactions of the union, enable atany time the assets, liabilities, financialposition and surplus or deficit of the Union to bedetermined with reasonable accuracy and enablethe financial statements to be audited. They arealso responsible for safeguarding the assets ofthe Union and hence for taking reasonable stepsfor the prevention and detection of fraud andother irregularities.

The Trustees are responsible for the maintenanceand integrity of the organisational information in-cluded on the union's website.

Signed on behalf of the Trustees:

Trevor Skelton

Annette Donlon

Date: 18 May 2017

Appendix 1:

Financial Statements


INDEPENDENT AUDITORS' REPORT TO THE TRUSTEES OFSERVICES, INDUSTRIAL, PROFESSIONAL AND TECHNICALUNION

We have audited the financial statements of Services, Industrial, Professional and Technical Union for theyear ended 31 December 2016 which consist of theConsolidated Statement of Income and RetainedEarnings, the Consolidated Statement of Financial Po-sition, the Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows andthe related notes. The relevant financial reportingframework that has been applied in their preparationis FRS 102, which is in the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK andRepublic of Ireland issued by the Financial ReportingCouncil.

This report is made solely to the Trustees of the Union in accordance with Section 11 of the Trade UnionsAct, 1871. Our audit work has been undertaken sothat we might state to the Trustees those matters weare required to state to them in an auditor's reportand for no other purpose. To the fullest extent per-mitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsi-bility to anyone other than the Union and the Trusteesas a body, for our audit work, for this report, or forthe opinions we have formed.

Respective responsibilities of Trustees and auditorsAs explained more fully in the Statement of Trustees' Responsibilities, the Trustees are responsible for thepreparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view. Our responsibility is to audit and express an opinion onthe financial statements in accordance with Irish lawand International Standards on Auditing (UK and Ireland). Those standards require us to comply withthe Auditing Practices Board's Ethical Standards forAuditors. We report to you our opinion as to whetherthe financial statements give a true and fair view inaccordance with FRS 102. Our responsibilities do notextend to other information.

Scope of the audit of the financial statementsAn audit involves obtaining evidence about theamounts and disclosures in the financial statementssufficient to give reasonable assurance that the finan-cial statements are free from material misstatement,whether caused by fraud or error. This includes an as-sessment of: whether the accounting policies are ap-propriate to the Union's circumstances and havebeen consistently applied and adequately disclosed;the reasonableness of significant accounting esti-mates made by the Trustees; and the overall presen-tation of the financial statements. In addition, we readall the financial and non-financial information in theTrustees report to identify material inconsistencieswith the audited financial statements and to identifyany information that is apparently materially incorrect

based on, or materially inconsistent with, the knowl-edge acquired by us in the course of performing theaudit. If we become aware of any apparentmaterial misstatements or inconsistencies we con-sider the implications for our report.

Basis for qualified opinion on financial statementsAs explained in Note 4, the Union has considered theimplications of Section 28 of Financial Reporting Stan-dard 102 (FRS 102), Employee Benefits, and has de-cided not to comply with the requirements of thestandard in the financial statements for the yearended 31 December 2016, as the Union considers thestandard to be contrary to its objective of supportingthe continued provision of defined benefit pensionschemes by employers to their employees.

Section 28 provides for the presentation of informa-tion regarding the costs of providing the pensionbenefits earned by employees during the year and ofthe value of the benefits that the Union has commit-ted to providing in respect of service up to the yearend, and for the recognition of relevant amounts inthe Consolidated Statement of Income and RetainedEarnings, and Consolidated Statement of Financial Po-sition of the Union. The Union has, in Note 19, dis-closed information in respect of the financial positionof the Pension Scheme. If the Union had compliedwith the requirements of Section 28 the effect wouldhave been to reduce net assets by €67.483 million(2015: €62.135 million), to reduce the surplus for theyear by €1.334 million (2015: €4.860 million increasein deficit) and to debit the Statement of Other Com-prehensive Income for the year with an amount of€5.834 million (2015: credit of €19.584 million).

Qualified opinion on financial statementsIn our opinion, except for the effects of the matter described in the Basis for qualified opinion paragraph,the financial statements:

• give a true and fair view of the state of affairs ofSIPTU at 31 December 2016 and of its surplus for theyear then ended as set out in the Consolidated State-ment of Income and Retained Earnings page 11.

We have obtained all the information and explana-tions we consider necessary for the purposes of ouraudit. In our opinion adequate accounting recordshave been kept by the Union in accordance with theTrade Union Acts, 1871 to 1990. The financial state-ments are in agreement with the accounting records.

O'Connor & AssociatesChartered Accountants and Registered AuditorsHarcourt CentreBlock 3Harcourt RoadDublin 2

18 May 2017


General FundRevenue Account for the year ended 31 December 2016

Schedule 2016 2015€ €

IncomeMembers’ Contributions 31,943,565 31,542,690

Rents 128,641 128,021

Sundry Income 1 710,887 1,208,651

32,783,093 32,877,362

Expenditure

Finance and Administration 2 5,409,005 5,040,477

Industrial Services 3 7.051,541 6,980,800

Industrial Engineering 4 145,043 198,337

Property 5 3,436,521 3,431,238

Utilities and Construction 6 2,321,980 2,477,847

Manufacturing 7 2,799,412 2,854,348

Health 8 2,517,265 2,687,920

PA and Communities 9 2,257,274 2,434,768

Services 10 2,124,617 2,317,548

Research 12 374,046 306,023

Publications 13 741,281 732,301

General Services 14 1,701,802 1,908,829

Dispute Benefit 404,715 154,053

Depreciation 15 634,591 710,799

31,919,093 32,235,288

Surplus for year 864,000 642,074

Gains on Financial Assets at Fair Value 124,967 127,553

Surplus on Disposal of Fixed Assets 44,531 20,941

Surplus for the year before taxation provision 1,033,498 790,568

Taxation provision (51,236) (41,890)

Surplus for the year after taxation provision 982,262 748,678

Transfer from Industrial Contingency Fund 154,719 -

Surplus after transfers from other funds 1,136,981 748,678

Balance in Fund at beginning of year 20,265,113 19,516,435

Balance in Fund at end of year 21,402,094 20,265,113


Provident and Educational FundRevenue Account for the year ended 31 December 2016

Schedule 2016 2015€ €

IncomeBank and Other Interest 6,823 102,773

Grants 127,000 127,000

133,823 229,773

ExpenditureStaff Costs 577,557 721,648

Education and Training 11 173,819 196,864

Retirement Benefit 150,574 151,708

Mortality Benefit 51,231 55,709

Superannuation and Grants 5,128 6,310

958,309 1,132,239

(Deficit) for year (824,486) (902,466)Balance in Fund at beginning of year (5,626,950) (4,724,484)

Balance in Fund at end of year (6,451,436) (5,626,950)

Industrial Contingency FundRevenue Account for the year ended 31 December 2016

2016 2015€ €

IncomeGeneral Fund - -

Expenditure - -

Surplus for year - -

Transfer (to) General Fund (154,719) -

Balance in Fund at beginning of year 19,568,746 19,568,746Balance in Fund at end of year 19,414,027 19,568,746


Political FundRevenue Account for the year ended 31 December 2016

Schedule 2016 2015Income € €Members’ Contributions 87,298 82,878

87,298 82,878

ExpenditureAffiliation Fees 2,500 2,500

Political Grants and Donations 5,700 (450)

Conference Expenses 719 13,135

8.919 15,185

Surplus for the year 78,379 67,693

Balance in Fund at beginning of year 247,633 179,940

Balance in Fund at end of year 326,012 247,633

Provident, Pension and General Purposes Fund (IPG)Revenue Account for the year ended 31 December 2016

Schedule 2016 2015€ €

IncomeMembers’ Contributions 38,076 21,433

38,076 21,433

ExpenditureClaims and Allowances 27,745 18,164

Payment to Superannuitants 10,126 11,834

37,871 29,998

Surplus/(Deficit) for year 205 (8,565)Balance in Fund at beginning of year 1,547,741 1,556,306Balance in Fund at end of year 1,547,946 1,547,741


Income Continuance Fundfor the year ended 31 December 2016

2016 2015€ €


- -

ExpenditureClaims and Allowances 50,957 68,493

50,957 68,493

(Deficit) for the year (50,957) (68,493)Balance in Fund at beginning of year 826,587 895,080Balance in Fund at end of year 775,630 826,587

Liberty Hall Modernisation Fundfor the year ended 31 December 2016

2016 2015€ €


ExpenditureResult for year - -

Balance in Fund at beginning of year 7, 670.066 7, 670.066Balance in Fund at end of year 7, 670.066 7, 670.066

Consolidated Statement of Income and Retained Earningsfor the year ended 31 December 2016

Note 2016 2015€ €

IncomeMembers’ Contributions 32,068,939 31,647,001

Rents 128,641 126,021

Bank & Other Interest 6,823 102,773

Grants 127,000 127,000

Other Income 710,887 1,208,651

33,042,290 33,211,446


ExpenditureStaff Costs 23,290,017 23,583,678

Honorary Secretaries Commission 232,869 278,150

Administration 1,135,392 1,129,536

Promotional 121,255 94,063

National/ Divisional & Industrial Conferences 475,565 716,206

Travel, Subsistence and Transport Costs 1,892,694 1,784,971

Computer and Equipment Maintenance 119,275 146,015

Publishing Costs 183,972 200,113

Legal and Professional Fees 363,816 495,634

Divisional Development and Campaign Fund 39,731 55,525

Strategic Development Activities 42,177 29,739

Establishment 1,996,055 1,893,185

Organisational Unit Expenses 171,993 185,418

Dispute Benefit 404,715 154,053

Depreciation 7 634,591 710,799

Provident and Educational Fund 958,309 1,135,427

Political Fund 8,919 15,185

Income Continuance Fund 50,957 68,493

IPG Fund 37,871 29,998

Affiliation Fees 809,971 758,876

Bank Charges 63,667 74,801

Amortisation of Capital Grant 15 (58,662) (58,662)

Total Operating Expenditure 32,975,149 33,481,203

Operating Surplus/(Deficit) 67,141 (269,757)

Gains on Financial Assets at Fair Value 9 124,967 127,553

Surplus on Disposal of Fixed Assets 44,531 20,941

Surplus/(Deficit) for the year before taxation provision 238,639 (121,263)

Taxation provision 14 (51,236) (41,890)

Surplus after transfers from other funds 185,403 (163,153)

Balance in Fund at beginning of Year 44,498,936 44,662,089

Balance in Fund at end of year 44,684,336 44,498,936

Consolidated Statement of Financial Positionfor the year ended 31 December 2016

Note 2016 2015€ €

IncomeFixed Assets 7 14,475,233 14,834,545

Heritage Asset 8 266,771 266,771

Investments 9 3,094,951 2,969,984

Current AssetsLarcon Centre Stock 2,630 2,630


Sundry Debtors and Prepayments 10 12,823,927 13,100,665

Cash and Cash Equivalents 18,209,479 18,064,213

31,036,036 31,167,508 Current LiabilitiesSundry Creditors 11 (2,429,207) (2,973,001)

Net Current Assets 28,606,829 28,194,507

Creditor amounts due after one year 13 (1,759,445) (1,766,871)

Net Assets 44,684,339 44,498,936

Reserves

General Fund 21,402,094 20,265,113

Liberty Hall Modernisation Fund 7,670,066 7,670,066

Income Continuance Fund 775,630 826,587

Provident and Educational Fund (6,451,436) (5,626,950)

Industrial Contingency Fund 19,414,027 19,568,746

Political Fund 326,012 247,633

Provident, Pension and General Purposes Fund (IPG) 1,547,946 1,547,741

44,684,339 44,498,936

The financial statements were approved by the Trustees on behlaf of the union on 18 May 2017.

On behalf of the Trustees.

Trevor Skelton

Annette Donlon

Consolidated Statement of Cash Flowsfor the year ended 31 December 2016

2016 2015€ €

Cash flows from operating activitiesOperating Surplus/(Deficit) 236,639 (121,263)

Depreciation 634,591 710,799

Gains on Financial Assets at Fair Value (124,967) (127,553)

Surplus on Disposal of Fixed Assets (44,531) (20,941)

Grant Amortisation (58,662) (58,662)

Interest Income 3,984 (27,569)

Decrease in Debtors 246,731 1,635,564

(Decrease) in Creditors (543,794) (2,612,973)

Net Cash from/(used) in Operating Activities 349,991 (622,598)

Cash flows from investing activitiesPayments to Acquire Fixed Assets (230,748) (174,331)

Interest and Similar Income Received 26,023 147,046

Net Cash from/(used) in investing Activities (204,725) (27,285)


Cash flows from financing activitiesNet cash Generated in Financing Activities - -

Net Increase/(Decrease) in Cash 145,266 (649,883)

Cash and Cash Equivalents at the beginning of the year 18,064,213 18,714,096

Cash and Cash Equivalents at the end of the year 18,209,479 18,064,213

Cash and Cash Equivalents consist of:Cash at Bank and on Hand 18,209,479 18,064,213Cash and Cash Equivalents 18,209,479 18,064,213

Notes to the accounts for the year ended 31 December 2016

1. General InformationThe Services, Industrial, Professional and Technical Union (SIPTU), which was founded in 1990, representsover 200,000 Irish workers from virtually every category of employment across almost every sector ofthe Irish economy. The union's head office is Liberty Hall, Eden Quay, Dublin, 1.

2. Statement of complianceThe financial statements have been prepared on a going concern basis and in compliance with FinancialReporting Standard 102, "The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the United Kingdom and theRepublic of Ireland" ("FRS 102") and in accordance with applicable Trade Union law and MiscellaneousTechnical Statement 28, "Annual Financial Reports of Trade Unions - Republic of Ireland".

3. Summary of significant accounting policiesThe significant accounting policies applied in the preparation of these financial statements are set outbelow. These policies have been consistently applied to all years presented unless otherwise stated.

a) Basis of preparationThe financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention, except for the Union'sinvestment portfolio which has been measured at fair value. The financial statements are prepared in Euro (€).

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with FRS 102 requires the use of certain criticalaccounting estimates. It also requires management to exercise its judgement in the process of applyingthe union's accounting policies. The areas involving a higher degree of judgement or complexity, or areaswhere assumptions and estimates are significant to the financial statements are disclosed in Note 4.

b) Foreign currencyThe union's functional and presentation currency is the Euro (€).Foreign currency transactions are initially recognised by applying to the foreign currency amount the spotexchange rate between the functional currency and the foreign currency at the date of the transaction.Monetary assets and liabilities denominated in a foreign currency at the consolidated statement of finan-cial position date are translated using the closing rate. Non-monetary items measured at historical costare translated using the exchange rate at the date of the transaction and non-monetary items measuredat fair value are measured using the exchange rate when fair value was determined.

Foreign exchange gains and losses resulting from the settlement of transactions and from the translationat period-end exchange rates of monetary assets and liabilities denominated in foreign currencies arerecognised in the consolidated statement of income and retained earnings.

c) Revenue recognitionThe Union recognises revenue when the amount of revenue can be measured reliably and it is probablethat future economic benefits will flow to the Union. The most significant revenue generated by the Unionis from its members' contributions. Other income recognised by the Union includes grant income, rentalincome and interest income.


(i) Members' contributionsMembers' contributions are accounted for on the basis of contributions remitted in respect of the ac-counting period and include remittances received after the year end. Any income received in advance isdeferred to the next period.

d) Employee benefitsThe Union provides a range of benefits to employees including paid holiday arrangements and definedbenefit pension plans. The defined benefit plan is described in further detail below.

(i) Short term benefitsShort term benefits, including holiday pay and other similar non-monetary benefits, are recognised as anexpense in the period in which the service is received.

(ii) Defined benefit pension planThe union operates a defined benefit plan for its employees. A defined benefit plan defines the pensionbenefit that the employee will receive on retirement, usually dependent upon several factors including age,length of service and remuneration. Contributions are made to the scheme in accordance withrecommendations of independent actuaries. Such contributions are charged on an accruals basis. Anindependent actuarial valuation is carried out every 3 years. The last actuarial valuation was on 1 January2016 (Note 19 to the accounts provides information in respect of the pension scheme).

e) TaxationThe union is generally exempt from taxation on its main activities. It is subject to income tax on its rentalincome, interest income and any realised gains from its investment portfolio.

Deferred tax arises from timing differences between taxable profits and the net result for the year as stated inthe financial statements. These timing differences arise from the inclusion of income and expenses in taxassessments in periods different from those in which they are recognised in the financial statements. Theunion has recognised deferred tax liabilities in respect of its investment portfolio which is measured at fairvalue.

Deferred tax is measured using tax rates and laws that have been enacted or substantively enacted by theperiod end and that are expected to apply to the reversal of the timing difference.

f) Heritage assetsHeritage assets are recorded in the consolidated statement of financial position at historical cost. The assetincluded on the statement of financial position is deemed to have an indefinite life and the Trustees do nottherefore consider it appropriate to charge depreciation. The carrying amount of the asset is reviewed forevidence of impairment on an annual basis and any such impairment will be dealt with in accordance with therecognition and measurement requirements of Section 34 of FRS 102 which sets out the accounting anddisclosure requirements for 'Heritage Assets'.

g) Tangible fixed assets and depreciationAll tangible fixed assets are recorded at historical cost less accumulated depreciation. Cost includes costsdirectly attributable to making the asset capable of operating as intended. Depreciation is provided on thefixed assets at rates calculated to write off the cost of the assets less any residual value over their expecteduseful lives as follows:

Premises 2% Reducing BalanceMotor Cars 25% Straight LineFurniture and Fittings 10% Reducing BalanceComputers & Office 25% EquipmentStraight Line

A full year's depreciation is charged in the year of acquisition.

The carrying value of tangible fixed assets is reviewed annually for impairment and whenever events orchanges in circumstances indicate that the carrying value may not be recoverable.

Repairs, maintenance and minor inspection costs are expensed as incurred.

h) ImpairmentAssets not measured at fair value are reviewed for any indication that the asset may be impaired at each


statement of financial position date. If such indication exists, the recoverable amount of the asset, or theasset's cash generating unit, is estimated and compared to the carrying amount. Where the carrying amountexceeds its recoverable amount, an impairment loss is recognised in the consolidated statement of incomeand retained earnings unless the asset is carried at a revalued amount where the impairment loss is arevaluation decrease.

i) StocksStocks are stated at the lower of cost and net realisable value.

j) Cash and cash equivalentsCash and cash equivalents includes cash on hand, deposits held at call with banks, other short-term highlyliquid investments with original maturities of three months or less and bank overdrafts.

k) Financial instrumentsThe Union has chosen to adopt Sections 11 and 12 of FRS 102 in respect of financial instruments.

(i) Financial assetsBasic financial assets, including trade and other receivables are initially recognised at the transaction price.Such assets are subsequently carried at amortised cost using the effective interest method.

At the end of each reporting period financial assets measured at amortised cost are assessed for objectiveevidence of impairment. If an asset is impaired the impairment loss is the difference between the carryingamount and the present value of the estimated cash flows discounted at the asset's original effective interestrate. The impairment loss is recognised in the consolidated statement of income and retained earnings.

Other financial assets include the Union's portfolio of investments which are managed by J&E Davy. Theseinvestments are initially measured at fair value, which is the transaction price. The investment is subsequentlycarried at fair value and the changes in fair value are recognised in the consolidated statement of income andretained earnings.

Financial assets are derecognised when (a) the contractual rights to the cash flows from the asset expire orare settled, or (b) substantially all the risks and rewards of the ownership of the asset are transferred toanother party or (c) control of the asset has been transferred to another party who has the practical ability tounilaterally sell the asset to an unrelated third party without imposing additional restrictions.

(ii) Financial liabilitiesBasic financial liabilities, including trade and other payables, are initially recognised at transaction price unlessthe arrangement constitutes a financing transaction where the debt instrument is measured at the presentvalue of the future receipts discounted at a market rate of interest.

Trade payables are obligations to pay for goods or services that have been acquired in the ordinary course ofbusiness from suppliers. Accounts payable are classified as current liabilities if payment is due within one yearor less. If not, they are presented as non-current liabilities. Financial liabilities are subsequently measured atamortised cost using the effective interest method.

Financial liabilities are derecognised when the liability is extinguished, that is when the contractual obligationis discharged, cancelled or expires.

I) Provision and contingenciesProvisions are recognised when the Union has an obligation at the consolidated statement of financial positiondate as a result of a past event, it is probable that an outflow of economic benefits will be required insettlement and the amount can be reliably estimated.


Contingent liabilities, resulting from past events, arise when (i) it is not probable that there will be an outflow ofresources or that the amount cannot be reliably measured at the reporting date, or (ii) the existence will beconfirmed by the occurrence or non-occurrence of uncertain future events not wholly within the Union'scontrol. In the normal course of events, the Union becomes involved in various legal disputes relating to itsrepresentation of members. The policy of the Union in terms of the financial impact of such disputes is toprovide for expenditure arising from legal cases only where it is probable that a transfer of economic benefitswill result. Any contingencies arising from such cases are disclosed unless the possibility of a transfer ofeconomic benefits is remote.Contingent assets are not recognised. Contingent assets are disclosed in the financial statements when aninflow of economic benefits is probable.

m) Political FundThe Union administers a Political Fund to which Section 3 of the Trade Union Act 1913 applies.

n) Government and other grantsThe Union applies the accrual model for the recognition of grants. Grants relating to revenue are recognised inincome on a systematic basis over the period in which the entity recognises the related costs for which thegrant is intended to compensate. Grants relating to an asset are recognised in income over the expecteduseful life of the asset.

4. Critical accounting estimates and judgementsThe preparation of the financial statements requires the Union to make significant judgements and estimates.Estimates and judgements are continually evaluated and are based on historical experience and other factors,including expectations of future events that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances.

(a) Critical judgements in applying the entity's accounting policies(i) Defined benefit planThe Union has considered the implications of Section 28 of FRS 102 'Employee Benefits' which sets out howpost-employment benefits such as defined benefit plans should be accounted for and disclosed. The Unionhas decided not to comply with the requirements of the relevant part of this Section that address definedbenefit plans in the financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2016. The Section provides for thepresentation of information regarding the costs of providing the pension benefits earned by employees duringthe year and of the value of the benefits that the Union has committed to providing in respect of service up tothe year-end.

It is the Union's position that the provisions of this Section are not in the best interests of members of definedbenefit pension schemes and are contrary to the Union's objective of supporting the continued provision ofdefined benefit schemes by employers to their employees. The basis of valuation provided for in the FRS 102differs from the basis of preparation of the funding standard provided for in the Pensions Act 1990.

The information required under FRS 102 does not, in the view of the Union, reflect the liabilities currently orlikely to fall payable by the Union in respect of the Pension Scheme in the foreseeable future. Accordingly,the Union is satisfied that the information required under FRS 102 has no impact on the ability of the Union tocontinue to operate on a financially viable basis.

(b) Critical accounting estimates and assumptionsThe Union makes estimates and assumptions concerning the future. The resulting accounting estimates will,by definition, seldom equal the related actual results. The estimates and assumptions that have a significantrisk of causing a material adjustment to the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities within the next financialyear are addressed below.

(i) Useful economic lives of tangible assetsThe annual depreciation charge for tangible assets is sensitive to changes in the estimated useful economic


lives and residual values of the assets. The useful economic lives and residual values are re-assessedannually. They are amended when necessary to reflect current estimates, based on economic utilisation andthe physical condition of the assets. See Note 7 for the carrying amount of the property plant and equipment,and Note 3(g) for the useful economic lives of each class of assets.

(ii) Valuation of investmentsThe Union's investment portfolio is measured at fair value. J&E Davy, the investment manager, provide theUnion with the fair values of the portfolio on each valuation date.

(iii) ProvisionsWhen recognising a provision the Union makes an estimate of the amount it expects to pay to settle theobligation.

5. Employee numbers and renumerationThe average number of persons employed by the union during the year was as follows:

2016 2015308 317

The aggregate payroll of persons employed by the union during the year was:2016 2015€ €

Wages and Salaries 13,593,088 13,943,105

Social welfare 2,426,401 2,503,135

Pension 7,270,528 7,137,438

23,290,017 23,583,678

The total gross compensation paid or payable to the three key management for employee services was€520,666 (2015: €520,368), which consists of basic salary service pay, employer PRSI, superannuationand benefit in kind in the provision of a car.

6. MembershipThe number of members at the beginning and end of the year was as follows:

2016 2015Number of members at the beginning of the period 200,532 204,469

Number of members admitted during the period 23,853 20,480

Number of members who ceased during the period (20,735) (24,417)

203,650 200,532


7. Fixed AssetsPremises Motor Cars Computers Furniture Total

& Office & FittingsEquipment

€ € € € €Cost/Valuation At 1.1.2016 20,430,132 1,074,884 4,739,648 4,889,668 31,134,332

Additions - 292,000 61,247 17,597 370,844

Disposals - (272,033) - - (272,033)

At 31.12.2016 20,430,132 1,094,851 4,800,895 4,907,265 31,233,143

Accumulated DepreciationAt 1.1.2016 6,526,577 802,520 4,738,375 4,232,315 16,299,787

Charge for year 278,071 273,713 15,312 67,495 634,591

Disposals - (176,468) - - (176,468)

At 31.12.2016 6,804,648 899,765 4,753,687 4,299,810 16,757,910

Net Book ValueAt 31.12.2016 13,625,484 195,086 47,208 607,455 14,475,233

Net Book ValueAt 31.12 2015 13,903,555 272,364 1,273 657,353 14,834,545

A lien is in place on some of the property assets of the union.

8. Heritage Assets2016 2015€ €

Opening Cost 266,771 266,771

Additions - -

Disposals - -

266,771 266,771During 2010, SIPTU purchased an original copy of the 1916 Proclamation. As this item meets the definition of aheritage asset as defined under Section 34 of FRS 102 it has been accounted for in accordance with the require-ments of the Section.

9. Investments2016 2015€ €

Investment Portfolio at Fair Value 3,076,139 2,951,172

Other Investments at Amortised Cost 18,812 18,812

3,094,951 2,969,984


Reconciliation of movement in investment portfolio at fair value during the year:

2016 2015€ €

Fair Value at 1 January 2,951,172 2,849,001

(Withdrawals) during the year - (25,382)Increase in Fair Value 124,967 127,553

3,076,139 2,951,172In 2015, the Union paid €25,382 in respect of income tax arising on its investment fund. In accordance with therelevant tax legislation, income tax is chargeable on the 8th anniversary of the original purchase of units in thefund and this anniversary occurred during the year. On that date the Union became liable for income tax on adeemed disposal of units in the fund. A credit is available for the income tax paid against tax arising on futureredemptions or disposals of units. A refund is available where the amount of the credit arising exceeds the taxdue on the redemption of disposal of a particular asset. Accordingly the income tax paid during 2015 has beenassessed as a prepayment of tax as it is expected to be recoverable in future periods. Recoverability is re-assessed on an annual basis.

Analysis of Investment Portfolio:The investment portfolios are managed by J&E Davy. The Union's investment strategy is to hold the portfolio forthe long term with some movements being made by the Investment Managers into or out of funds in order tooptimise return or limit loss. The fair value of 'Other Investments' held by the Union is not materially differentthan the cost.

The Union Investment Portfolio is analysed as follows:2016 2015€ €

Ireland Fixed Interest 154,761 121,120

Irish Equity Fund 1,386,309 971,337

Eurozone Cash and Equity Fund 1,535,069 1,858,715

3,076,139 2,951,172

Other Investments at Amortised Cost:2016 2015€ €

€3,127 9.75% National Development Loan 3,127 3,127

Prize Bonds 1,079 1,079

Other Investments 1,175 1,175

5,381 5,381

Cash Retained by the AccountantCourts of Justice 13,431 13,431

18,812 18,812

10. Sundry Creditors and Prepayments2016 2015€ €

Contributions Receivable 3,427,780 3,498,422

Salaries in Advance 894,806 843,541

Other Prepayments 296,348 343,447

Other Receivables 8,097,193 8,310,168

Deferred Expenses 82,418 79,705

Prepayment of Income Tax (Note () 25,382 25,382

12,823,927 13,100,665


11. Sundry Creditors2016 2015€ €

Payables 1,250,674 1,716,489

PAYE/PRSI 911,309 881,131

Accruals 192,224 275,381

Provisions for Other Liabilities (Note 12) 75,000 100,00

2,429,207 2,973,001

12. Provisions to Other LiabilitiesThe union has the following provisions during the year in respect to loans advanced, taxation and legal cases.

2016 2015€ €

At 1 January 100,000 320,885

Additions 75,000 -

Amounts utilised - (68,509)

Unused amounts reversed to the consolidatedstatement of income and retained earnings (100,000) (152,376)

At 31 December 75,000 100,000

13. Creditor amounts due after one year2016 2015€ €

Deferred Income - Belfast Premises 52.413 52,413

Deferred Income - Capital Grants (note 15) 1,400,771 1,459,433

Deferred Tax Liability (Note 14) 306,261 255,025

1,759,445 1,766,871

14. Taxation ProvisionDeferred tax liability

2016 2015€ €

At beginning of year 255,025 213,135

Deferred tax charge for the year 51,236 41,890

At end of year 306,261 255,025

15. Deferred Income - Capital Grants2016 2015€ €

At beginning of year 1,459,433 1,513,095

Amortisation during the year (58,662) (58,662)

At end of year 1,400,771 1,459,433


16. Financial InstrumentsThe union has the following financial instruments:

Note 2016 2015€ €

Financial assets at fair value 9 3,076,139 2,951,172

Financial assets that are debt instruments at amortised cost- Other investments at amortised cost 9 18,812 18,812- Contributions receivable 10 3,427,780 3,498,422- Other sundry receivables 10 8,097,193 8,310,168

Financial liabilities measures at amortised cost- Creditors amounts due within one year 11 2,429,207 2,973,001

17. Capital Commitments and ContingenciesIn 2012, the plan put forward to redevelop the Liberty Hall site was rejected by the planning authorities, AnBord Pleanala. The Union remains committed to the Liberty Hall site which has been the home of the Unionsince 1912. Accordingly the Union is examining options which will permit an appropriate modernisation of thefacilities. At the year end 31 December 2016, this review is ongoing and in this respect the Union in 2012 provided for the modernisation through the creation of a separate Liberty Hall Modernisation Fund.

18. Related Party TransactionsIDEAS Limited is a company limited by guarantee carrying on a range of training and educational activities. Themembers of IDEAS Limited are appointed by SIPTU. The Union continues to support the activities of IDEAS Lim-ited. SIPTU bear the salary costs of a number of employees who are seconded to IDEAS. Total salary costs in-curred during 2016 were €144,095 (2015: €nil). The amount outstanding at the end of the year from IDEAS was€nil (2015:€nil).

ITUT is a company limited by guarantee with the objective of promoting social solidarity in Ireland. SIPTU incurthe cost of running a scheme, known as the Basic English Scheme, and recharge expenses relating to thisscheme to ITUT. Total expenses recharged during 2016 were €39,409 (2015: €36,230). Included in debtors at 31December 2016 are amounts due by ITUT to SIPTU of €205,349 (2015: €165,940). The Union continues to sup-port the activities of ITUT.

Larcon Cultural Services Limited is a limited company established to operate the Liberty Hall Centre for theArts. The Trustees of SIPTU are the shareholders of Larcon. During the year Larcon Cultural Services Limited incurred license fees and charges and purchased goods in the amount of €137,313 (2015: €1 02,052) fromSIPTU. Included in debtors at 31 December 2016 are amounts due by Larcon Cultural Services Limited to SIPTUof€143,584 (2015: €104,927). The Union continues to support the activities of Larcon Cultural Services Limited.

19. PensionsThe Union operates a defined benefit pension scheme for staff employed by the Union. Contributions are madeto the scheme in accordance with recommendations of an independent actuary. Such contributions arecharged on an accruals basis. An actuarial valuation was carried out at 1 January 2016. Using the aggregatedmethod of funding which has traditionally been used, the results of the valuation showed that the Fund was indeficit under the Minimum Funding Standard at 1 January 2016 in the amount of €20 million. The Union is com-mitted to supporting the continuation of the Pension Scheme, in conjunction with staff and Pension Trustees.This commitment extends, at the discretion of the NEC, to the provision of supplementary funds if required.During the 2015 SIPTU and the Pension Scheme Trustees submitted the Section 50 application to the PensionsBoard and this application was subsequently approved by the Pensions Board.

If the Union had complied with the requirements of FRS 102 the effect would have been to reduce net assets by€67.483 million. This compares with a figure of €62.135 million for 2015.


20. Subsequent EventsThere have been no significant events affecting the Union since the year end.

21. Approval of the financial statementsThe Trustees approved the accounts on 18 May 2017.

Schedules to the accountsfor the year ended 31 December 2016

2016 2015

Schedule 1 € €Sundry Income

Income from Services to Provident Fund 84,092 84,092

Other income 626,795 1,124,559

710,887 1,208,651

2016 2015Schedule 2 € €Finance and Administration

Staff Costs 4,541,408 4,393,867

Administration 463,668 346,874

Equipment & Computer Maintenance 10,847 10,084

Travel and Subsistence 33,571 23,590

Transport Costs - Car Fuel 10,381 3,976

- Car Maintenance 14,884 14,733

- Tax and Insurance 26,481 6,141

Official’s Transport Policy 89,908 60,482


Bank Charges 63,667 74,673

5,409,005 5,040,477

2016 2015Schedule 3 € €Industrial Services

Staff Costs 6,555,188 6,475,666


Legal & Professional Fees 36,061 123,886






7,051,541 6,980,800


2016 2015Schedule 4 € €Industrial Engineering

Staff Costs 132,061 184,742



145,043 198,337

2016 2015Schedule 5 € €Property

Staff Costs 1,222,495 1,234,427



Equipment and Maintenance 108,428 135,869

Travel and Subsistence 1,218 724

Transport Costs - Car Fuel 7,209 -

- Tax and Insurance 504 -

Official’s Transport Policy 4.085 5,398

Rent, Rates and Insurance 998,686 947,999

Heat, Light and Cleaning 680,727 632,773

Maintenance and Refurbishment 316,642 312,413

3,436,521 3,431,238

2016 2015Schedule 6 € €Utilities and Construction

Staff Costs 1,967,743 2,104,564

Divisional Development 2,803 6,125




- Car Maintenance 1,068 839



Legal and Professional Fees - 784

2,321,980 2,477,847


2016 2015Schedule 7 € €Manufacturing

Staff Costs 2,334,896 2,408,772




Equipment and Computer Maintenance - 31

Legal and Professional Fees 31 62




- Tax and Insurance 698 3,750


2,799,412 2,854,348

2016 2015Schedule 8 € €Health

Staff Costs 1,954,611 2,007,789




Bank charges - 128






Legal and Professional Fees 450 -

2,517,265 2,687,920

2016 2015Schedule 9 € €PA and Communities

Staff Costs 1,841,097 1,960,713

Divisional Development 443 677



Legal and Professional Fees 33 -



- Car Maintenance 838 1,017



2,257,274 2,434,768


2016 2015Schedule 10 € €Services

Staff Costs 1,882,933 2,051,967









2,124,617 2,317,548

2016 2015Schedule 11 € €Education and Training

Administration 806 3,249


Transport Costs - Car Fuel - 4,632

- Car Maintenance 263 450


Rent, Rates and Insurance - 165

Repairs and Renewals - 9

Course Expenses 120,557 106,822

Staff Education and Development Grants 7,647 28,656


Scholarship Grant/Law Course Expenditure 34,900 26,850

173,819 196,864

2016 2015Schedule 12 € €Research

Staff Costs 352,009 263,456


Legal and Professional Fees - 7,657

Equipment Maintenance - 31

Travel and Subsistence 1,027 765



Retirement Membership Expenses 3,145 9,013

374,046 306,023


2016 2015Schedule 13 € €Publications

Staff Costs 505,576 497,715


Travel and Subsistence 751 136


Publishing Costs 183,972 200,113

741,281 732,301

2016 2015Schedule 14 € €General Services

Divisional/Biennial Delegate Conference 157,882 358,870

ICTU Biennial Conference - 47,085

Other Conferences 17,138 2,245

ICTU Affiliation Fee 654,257 599,111

Affiliation fees 18,272 14,181

Other Affiliation Fees 137,442 145,584

Grants and Charitable Donations 200 200

N.E.C. Costs 270,792 282,542

Promotional Expenses 103,277 67,898

Overseas 42,177 29,739

Divisional Executive Committee 29,753 25,464

Organisation Unit Expenses 171,993 185,418

Legal & Professional Fees 142,648 192,202

Retired Members Expenses 14,633 16,952

Amortisation of Grant (58,662) (58,662)

1,701,802 1,908,829

2016 2015Schedule 15 € €DepreciationPremises 278,071 283,746

Motor Cars 273,713 268,721

Furniture and Fittings 67,495 73,039

Computer & Office Equipment 15,312 85,293

634,591 710,799

Appendix 2:

Staff Salaries

The following were the annual salaries paid to staff at the top of the salary scales on the 31st December2016. These have not changed since they were reported as of 31st December 2013.

Grade: Annual Salary

National Executive Officer €108,384

Divisional Organiser/Head of Department €84,142

Sector Organiser €66,290 plus an allowance of €5,604

Industrial Organiser €66,290

Assistant Industrial Organiser €54,601

Location Based Organiser €49,075

Maintenance Supervisor €49,075

Administrative Assistant €39,034

Porter/Maintenance €36,986

When the Haddington Road Agreement was negotiatedin 2013, the National Officers voluntarily waived a percentage of their salaries. This was equivalent to thepay reductions which were applied in that Agreementand the position has not changed since.

SIPTU staff pension benefit receivable at retirementwas reduced by 20% and the provision for any pensionincrease was removed following the issuing of a Section 50 Order by the Pensions Authority.

Subsistence Allowances

The following schedule of allowances – approved by the Office of the Inspector of Taxes was agreed bythe National Executive Council applied to members, activists and staff while undertaking union busi-ness.

Dec 2015 Dec 2016For absences of 5 hours but less than 10 €13.71 €13.71

For absences of 10 hours or more €33.61 €33.61

Where overnight stay is required (maximum – subject to production of receipt) €89.25 €89.25


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